The Quiet Mouse is a 4:18 minute film by Sharon Niemczyk, featuring poem by Mindy Brown.

This poignant animated film is based on an original poem by Mindy Brown, written after learning that she carries a BRCA2 gene mutation that dramatically increases her risk of cancer.

At just 40 years old, her life suddenly became filled with medical appointments, procedures, hard decisions and a series of invasive risk-reducing surgeries, including a hysterectomy, bilateral mastectomy, and reconstruction.

Through the metaphor of a shy mouse, Mindy gives voice to the fears, vulnerability, and unspoken feelings hidden beneath her outward strength and transforms her deeply personal experience into a universal reflection on the things we carry quietly and struggle to say aloud.

Rather than being spoken, evocative music is paired with the moving visual text of Mindy’s poem, choreographed with deliberate pacing, giving viewers time to absorb not only the meaning of the words, but the feelings they evoke.