THIS IS NOT A HEARTBEAT

2026 | Short documentary, 11 mins.

THIS IS NOT A HEARTBEAT interrogates how science is translated, mythologized, and weaponized through the story of one misunderstood sound: the fetal heartbeat. At six weeks, the so-called ‘heartbeat’ is not the sound of a heart at all, but machine-generated audio. Yet this manufactured signal has become deeply emotional and politically charged, used to restrict abortion access across the U.S.

Blending poetic voiceover, archival footage, and experimental sound design, the film examines how ultrasound technology doesn’t just capture reality, it constructs it. The film asks: when machines mediate our view of the body, what are we really seeing, and who decides what it means?