Rhode Island International Film Festival 2019 – Silence
Around a street corner, Hervé comes face to face with the life he was forced to abandon.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Gabrielle Mankiewicz
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Growing up in a filmmaker’s family, I myself worked as an assistant director for over ten years and I wanted to honour the film technicians who, most of the time, work in the shadow. The character I created allowed me to imagine a narrative soundscape. That was a first for me, as sound editing was not something I explored before.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I think the film offers, without imposing an absolute vision, freedom to the viewer to experience it very personally, almost like a song or a poem. Without being experimental, I think what makes this film special is its original narrativity.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film talks about cinema and cinema reveals life in its beauty and its harshness. As my experience of life, always immersed in cinema, has been harsh and beautiful, I made a film that is very personal but that yet speaks of human issues in a very simple way.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I wrote that film in one day, on my first day on a movie set. Seven years later I directed the exact same script. The main differences between the script and the movie itself appeared during the editing process. I realized there was so much I could tell in a short format, I had to let go of a cynical view of the movie industry that was present in the script to bring it back to the essential experience of the main character.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I didn’t think the film would touch an audience that large. After winning mainly public audience awards, I’m quite confused…
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It surely did. Not only it did touch a larger audience than I thought, I realize through comments that people create their own story out of it and that they don’t mind understanding or not the actual “meaning of the song”.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
My only goal in making this movie is to reach as many humans as possible. I hope that extra visibility will help.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
All the people involved in the production and all those who talk about it have an important impact on the film’s life. There is so many. All I can say is that my collaboration with my cinematographer Yves Bélanger as been very precious.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I’d like to bring the audience’s attention to the human aspect of the film industry.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What did you understand about the main character’s life and his relationship to the environment he’s forced to revisit?
Would you like to add anything else?
Thanks for this kind attention you brought to my work.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I am currently adapting a fascinating theatre play written by Jean-Denis Beaudoin, called My Kids Are Not Afraid of the Dark. It’s inspired by the tale Hansel & Gretel and tells a story of love and hate between brothers that share the same wounds of deprivations.
Interview: August 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Silence
Around a street corner, Hervé comes face to face with the life he was forced to abandon.
Length: 17:29
Director: Gabrielle Mankiewicz
Producer: Estelle Champoux, Mylène Corbeil, Gabrielle Mankiewicz
Writer: Gabrielle Mankiewicz
About the writer, director and producer:
Silence marks GABRIELLE MANKIEWICZ’s debut as a narrative short film director. Her passion for screenwriting and directing actors would grow following her studies in film, leading her to bloom into a filmmaker. An assistant director for the past ten years, Gabrielle wanted above all else to pay tribute to cinema. Thus, her first work is inspired by all those who toil in the shadows, craftspeople, technicians, and whom surrounded her since a very young age.
ESTELLE CHAMPOUX and MYLÈNE CORBEIL started their collaboration at LA CRÉATIVE FILMS in 2015, but their complicity dates back to when they first met at university in Montreal. Women of instincts, they choose their projects in unison, lead by the emotions they feel when reading a script.
Key cast: Burtt Harris (Hervé). Emmanuel Bilodeau (Philippe). Valentine Payen (the actress). Jay Baruchel (the actor). Élyse Aussant (the 1st AD). Maxime Genois (the production assistant). Hubert Proulx (the set PA).
Looking for: sales agents, journalists, buyers
Facebook: Silence
Instagram: @gabrielle.mankiewicz
Hashtags used: #silencelefilm
Website: www.ladistributrice.ca/catalogue-films/silence
Other: IMDb
Funders: Gabrielle Mankiewicz, La Créative Films
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Rhode Island International Film Festival / USA -09/08/2019; Tofifest / Poland - 10/2019