I Have A Voice, a short film based on an original song by Clara Verdier and Bibi Cavalcante, Brazil, 2023

Actor/producer/lyricist Clara Verdier, from São Paulo, Brazil, tells us about an exciting project: her short film, to be released on the upcoming Film Festivals circuit.

I was a victim of sexual abuse at the age of eight, and although I was in analysis for over ten years, I never discussed the topic—possibly because it happened around the time of my parents' distressing divorce. For me, the healing process only began through a very personal artistic experience.

In 2021, almost twenty-five years after the abuse took place, I signed up for a Musical Theatre class, and our final assignment was to write a song for one

of the characters of the well-known children's tale “Little Red Riding Hood”. Once I finished the lyrics, I realised it was not so much a song, but a confession and, at the same time, a cure.

I Have A Voice—title of the seven-minute-long song, portrays the fragments of childhood memories that surface when a woman who suffered sexual abuse at the age of eight shares her trauma with an audience. The chorus of the song resembles a mantra and reiterates the importance of empathy and being heard: