Sai (2005) investigated the role of speech in newborns' recognition of their mothers' faces. Her results revealed that, when presented with both their mother's face and that of a stranger, newborns preferred looking at their mother only if she had previously talked to them. The present study attempted to extend these findings to any other faces. By using video films, our results revealed that unfamiliar female faces were recognized in the test phase only if they had previously talked to the baby, but not if they had been silent. These results highlight the importance of an early audiovisual perception which already seems to play an important role in face processing at birth. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)