MIOB In Shorts Review: Beyond Silence (2024)
MIOB In Shorts Award Competition 2026
The Winner
We are navigating ourselves in times that move us backwards deep into the twentieth century when it comes to women’s rights and, in general, minority rights. The manosphere has jumped out of the local frenzy to become a global hit, and victims of physical and sexual violence are once again subjected to public mobbing due to the unfettered freedom that anyone on the Internet can say what and how they want without any legal and moral consequences.
Serial rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate has recently been put in custody, from where he complains about the miserable conditions in prison; Russell Brand has finally been convicted of rape after a long trial, and a crowd of fans (mostly male) are shouting “injustice”, claiming that women are falsely accusing men of crimes and publicly defaming them. For any woman, raising one’s voice against injustice has never been easy, but this seems to be even more humiliating nowadays due to the maniacally fast flow of information on social networks and insufficient filtering of hate speech.
Inspired by her own traumatic experience, Marnie Blok has crafted a taut drama about a young, deaf scholar, Eva ( Henrianne Jansen), who tries to come to terms with sexual abuse at her workplace by seeking advice from a university advisor, Sandrine (Tamar van den Dop). Beyond Silence is a directorial debut of the sucessfull Dutch screenwriter who proves again as a powerful storyteller. The viewer is confronted with the core of the story immediately, without introduction, as the film opens with the scene in which we see all three protaginists in the same room where the whole plot takes place.
It’s the hermeticality of the room and the intimate, tigth shots caught by the lens of Myrthe Mosterman that create both tension and safe space for Eva’s emotional confession filled with anger and desperation. The minimalistic approach to plot-building proves to be the right choice due to intricately built dialogues. Jansen’s performance as woman who’s seeking justice and guidance in getting it, is captivating. Her testimony, given in sign language, and voiced through her sister and translator Anna (Sigrid ten Napel), is charged with electrifying emotion that culminates in the movie’s final scene.
Blok leads us to belive that Sandrine’s hesitant attitude signifies her scepticism, but beneath the advisor’s guard hides her own trauma, burried long time ago. She is confronted with her own demons, but instead of freeing herself from them by letting someone else speak out about personal hurt and the harm sexual harassment brought them, she sticks to the old school defense mechanisms – denial. Beyond Silence is a film that reminds us about the unbroken chain of abuse, the dangers of silenced experiences and the importance of voicing them out loud, by all means available.
Original title: Beyond Silence
Runtime: 17′
Country: Netherlands
Language: Dutch
Year: 2024
Written/ Directed by: Marnie Blok
Cinematography: Myrthe Mosterman
Editing: Annelien Van Wijnbergen
Sound: Evelien Van Der Molen
Music: Joris Oonk
Production Design: Lela Claasen
Line Producer: Wieke van der Kley
Producer: Ellen Havenith
Cast: Henrianne Jansen, Sigrid ten Napel, Tamar van den Dop
Sales: PRPL B.V. (Marre Tramper)
