Sonita asks, can someone find my friends
Sonita launches a global appeal to raise awareness of the cause of women silenced by the law, together with Publicis Conseil.
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Afghan artist and activist Sonita Alizadeh unveils the music video for her latest track, Can Someone Find My Friends.
Born from a collaborative choir launched on TikTok, Donate Your Voice transforms public participation into a movement: lend one's voice, amplify the message, and support, alongside UNICEF, Afghan women who have been silenced, while calling for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
In Afghanistan, 21 million of women and girls have been silenced. Since 2024, they have been legally forbidden from speaking, singing, or laughing in public. In the face of this injustice, Sonita Alizadeh launched an unprecedented call for "voice donations," to which hundreds of citizens worldwide have responded.
Her new track is produced by John Foyle, known for his work with FKA Twigs, Jeanne Added, and Ibeyi. He has mixed these hundreds of voices shared across social media into a collaborative choir.
A manifesto music video supported and produced by Publicis Conseil to bring visibility to those being erased. The music video for Can Someone Find My Friends was directed by Jean-Charles Charavin. Charavin is renowned for his work on projects such as Invisible (NTO) and La Cause (Grand Corps Malade), which earned around fifteen international awards.
Credits
View on- Agency Publicis Conseil/Paris
- Production Company Prodigious Paris
- Director Jean-Charles Charavin
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Credits
View on- Agency Publicis Conseil/Paris
- Production Company Prodigious Paris
- Director Jean-Charles Charavin
Explore full credits, grab hi-res stills and more on shots Vault
Credits
powered by- Agency Publicis Conseil/Paris
- Production Company Prodigious Paris
- Director Jean-Charles Charavin
The film starts with Sonita's personal pictures, taken during her childhood in Afghanistan. They reconstruct a classroom where the artist confronts memories of missing friends, victims of forced marriage, violence, or femicide. This deeply personal sense of isolation gradually shifts into a message of hope: citizens from around the world lend their faces and voices to form a choir, collectively carrying forward the fight of Sonita and Afghan women.
Conceived as both an artistic and activist work, Donate Your Voice transforms a creative gesture into concrete impact: mobilising donations for UNICEF programs in Afghanistan and advocating for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
"All over the world, as in Afghanistan, millions of women are silenced by the laws of their countries. If you live in a country with freedom of expression, you can use your voice for those who cannot. This is the beginning of the resistance. Hundreds of people have already donated theirs by joining the choir of my song. Today, I pay tribute to them in my music video." said Alizadeh
The initiative is the result of a collective mobilization by Publicis Conseil, along with Prodigious, Publicis Media, and Publicis Consultants, working alongside the Leo creative network. From strategic design to production, the entire project was conceived and executed collaboratively, including filming at Studio 61.
"Putting our creative strength at the service of such an essential cause is part of our responsibility. Born from our meeting with Sonita Alizadeh at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, this campaign illustrates what we can achieve when creativity and conviction unite." adds Marco Venturelli, Global CCO/CEO Leo, CCO Publicis Groupe France, CEO/CCO Publicis Conseil.
