Hidden Voices

HIDDEN VOICES
A visceral new short film by Meena Ayittey turns London’s everyday journeys into a powerful meditation on silence, survival and the unseen realities of FGM/C.

Moving through buses, train carriages and fleeting moments between strangers, Hidden Voices is a visually arresting short film that transforms public transport into a living tapestry of unspoken stories.
Written and directed by Meena Ayittey, the film blends poetic realism with social urgency, inviting audiences to witness what is often hidden in plain sight.

Rather than presenting FGM/C through traditional narrative exposition, Hidden Voices unfolds through fragmented glances, gestures, overheard conversations and internal worlds. A pregnant woman’s journey intersects with commuters, young girls and quiet observers, creating a mosaic of perspectives that challenge viewers to reconsider how trauma, culture and community exist side by side in everyday spaces.

Ayittey’s direction draws from contemporary European art-house cinema and documentary naturalism, using intimate cinematography, raw performances and immersive sound design to blur the line between fiction and lived experience. Cinematographer Pablo Rojo captures London not as a backdrop but as an emotional landscape with steel, glass and motion reflecting the resilience and vulnerability of the characters who move through it.

“When I was briefed by Evie Wright at Media Trust and Natalie Roberts at Orchid Project Charity, I decided that I wanted the audience to feel like witnesses rather than spectators,” says Ayittey. “The film isn’t about explaining it’s about feeling the weight of silence and recognising the humanity behind it.”

Produced by The Banquet, the film was built through a collaboration between filmmakers, activists and creatives committed to meaningful storytelling. Influencers and advocates including Evangeline Plumb (@cliterallythebest), Gina Martin (@ginamartin), and Audrey Akande (@just_callme_audrey) contributed to the film’s wider conversation around body autonomy and awareness.

Greg Hayes the films editor delivers the perfect pacing and tempo for a restrained yet haunting score by Jonny Bee and layered sound design by Edwin Matthews, Hidden Voices leans into atmosphere and rhythm, allowing pauses and ambient sound to carry emotional weight. The result is a cinematic experience that feels intimate, urgent and quietly confrontational. This is a film that asks audiences not just to watch, but to listen.

Hidden Voices stands as both a cinematic work and a call to awareness; a film that invites conversation without spectacle, and empathy without simplification.