See Memory is a 15-minute hand-painted animated film that explores the science of memory through visual storytelling. Created by painter and filmmaker Viviane Silvera, the film is composed of over 30,000 original painted frames animated through stop-motion, offering a poetic and accessible way to understand how memories are formed, altered, and carried in the brain—particularly in the aftermath of trauma.
Grounded in research from leading neuroscientists, including Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel, See Memory translates complex scientific concepts into imagery rather than exposition. The film focuses on the reconstructive nature of memory, illustrating how remembering is not a static replay of the past but an active, malleable process. Through shifting colors, evolving brushstrokes, and changing visual rhythms, the animation mirrors the brain’s movement between explicit memory—the memories we consciously recall and narrate—and implicit memory, the emotional and bodily traces that often remain outside of awareness.
Rather than presenting interviews or clinical case studies, See Memory uses art itself as the explanatory language. The absence of live action allows viewers to engage with the material on an intuitive level, making the film particularly effective as a grounding tool, reflective prompt, or entry point for discussions about trauma, healing, and neuroplasticity.
The 15-minute version is designed for educational, clinical, and community settings, where it has been used in university classrooms, narrative medicine programs, and trauma-informed workshops. Its modular length allows facilitators to pair the film with discussion, writing, or mindfulness practices.
A separate 30-minute PBS broadcast edition of See Memory expands on this work through live-action interviews with neuroscientists and clinicians, additional scientific discoveries, and extended narrative context.
Information about the PBS version and public programs is available at www.seememoryfilm.com.