For Javier Soto, a legendary assistant director, the voice is not just a tool, it is his identity. For 35 years, his “¡MOTOR!” has brought countless shoots to life, the axis around which the controlled chaos of filmmaking turns. But a diagnosis of laryngeal cancer threatens to silence him forever, taking away his profession and an essential part of himself.
CANICA is an animated documentary short that, through an intimate drawn cartography by celebrated illustrator Jan Rothuizen, tells the story of how Javier faces loss. Before the disease takes his voice away, he embarks on a race against the clock to clone it using artificial intelligence. What he discovers is not just a digital echo, but a bridge to the future, a healing tool and proof that true communication is born from the heart.
It is a story about resilience, love and how technology, in its most human form, can give us new instructions to keep on living.
Javier’s Voice, the Tech & Research project associated with this short film.
