Written and directed by Steve Anthopoulos, Voice Activated tells the story of Trent – a florist and deliveryman who has a stutter – who is forced to find his voice in order to operate a voice-activated car.
Aleks Mikic stars as Trent alongside comedian Becky Lucas, Mabel Li and Alyson Standen, with a voice cameo from Sam Neill. Liam Heyen and Yingna Lu produce.
Voice Activated premiered at Sydney Film Festival in 2022 after being funded by Screen NSW’s Screenability Fund, and was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Short Film. It made its international debut at Tribeca this year, and has won more than 11 awards worldwide. The film is eligible for Best Action Short Film at next year’s Academy Awards and is currently in the Academy Screening Room for consideration.
The film is inspired by Anthopoulos’ own experiences, having stuttered since around six-years-old; he was motivated to make the film after watching Birgit Gholke’s Austrian documentary Stuttering – My Constant Companion, which was programmed for Sydney Film Festival’s Screenability strand in 2018.