World Premiere
At the end of an unsuccessful fishing trip, a small trawler’s desperate captain and crew ultimately agree they have to do something risky, but potentially lucrative, to change their fortune. There are high stakes and lots of high drama in this tale about tough decisions and moral dilemmas. We are quickly immersed in the world of the boat, fabulously created by lush cinematography, excellent performances, and outstanding production and sound design. Though the story is based on a simple premise, the script is fantastic, and with echoes of Leviathan, it soon heads off into dangerous waters. The Silent Ones is an exhilarating and haunting adventure ride that doesn’t back away from the difficult choices, no matter how right or wrong the outcome may be.
Community Partner
Arieh Worthalter, Thierry Barbet, Arnaud Duléry, Hugo Simon, François Gillerot
France/Belgium/Switzerland
2022
In French with English subtitles
Featured in:
International Shorts: Morality Plays
Morals are being challenged on many fronts. The protagonists in this program of short films are all faced with difficult moral choices and they don’t always make the right decisions.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.
Credits
Producer
Samuel Feller, Thomas Guentch, Arnaud S. Gantenbein
Screenwriter
Blandine Jet, Basile Vuillemin
Cinematography
Olivier Boonjing
Editor
Christophe Evrard
Production Design
Pierre Guerin
Original Music
Michael Chapon
Director
Basile Vuillemin
Basile Vuillemin lives between Brussels and Paris. He studied cinema at Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Belgium and graduated with a Master’s in Cinema Fiction in 2016. His previous shorts have been presented in numerous international festivals and feature graphic composition and his passion for working with actors.