Whispers of Magic: Wittenborg Student Releases Short Film Online

05.01.2026

Sara Seyed Azizi’s Animation Tells Story of Young Woman Dealing with Anxiety

The beautiful short film ‘Whispers of Magic’, created by Wittenborg MBM student Sara Seyed Azizi, is now available on YouTube for everyone to enjoy. Produced in 2024, the film centres on a young woman struggling with anxiety and stress, who escapes into an imaginary world where she becomes a child version of herself.

The story is inspired by Sara’s own feelings of frustration when her visa to the UK was unexpectedly denied, forcing her to abandon her plans to study for a bachelor's degree in Games Art at the University of the Arts, London.

To create ‘Whispers of Magic’, Sara used Unreal Engine and other 3D computer graphics software, building on her previous experience with those tools. The film was screened in various festivals across countries including the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, India and Brazil. It won awards at the Amsterdam New Cinema Film Festival, Stockholm City Film Festival, Portugal Indie Film Festival, Kollywood International Film Festival and Rohip International Film Festival, as well as an Honourable Mention at the UK Film Awards.

For Sara, art is as much about self-expression as it is about connecting with others. “I’m happy that the people who have seen ‘Whispers of Magic’ enjoyed it and connected with it. The main reason we create is to connect with the world around us, and that essential element can’t be ignored. I don’t think I’ll ever be the kind of artist who cares about sales or attention; for me, what matters is my own feeling and taste in creating the piece,” she says.

The student notes that she would like to develop other artistic projects for different media, including games. “I’ve always dreamed of creating a full video game based on the first book of The Chronicles of Narnia, but to make that happen, I’d need to build a complete team, so that’s something for the future.”

Sara is also passionate about literature and has been working on two books for years, one in the crime genre and the other in fantasy. “I feel that now might be the right time to publish the crime novel; it tells the story of a lawyer who lost his family as a child during a revolutionary uprising in his country. Twenty years later, he receives an anonymous letter from someone who claims to have information about the person who murdered his family.”

She encourages emerging artists to be authentic and bring their visions to life. “You don’t need to be afraid of failure, of not having enough viewers or not being liked by everyone. Most great artists weren’t even recognised until after their death, and the true value of art doesn’t lie in how many people see it. My advice to all emerging artists is this: bring every pattern of your imagination to life, even the strange ones.”