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
The Secret Agent
Having run afoul of an influential bureaucrat in Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1977, Marcelo decamps to Recife to live under an assumed name — but he’ll soon come to understand precisely how rampant the country’s corruption has become.
Cutting Through Rocks
Winner of Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Cutting Through Rocks follows Sara Shahverdi — motorcyclist, midwife, and first-ever councilwoman elected in her Iranian village. A vérité triumph by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni.
The Nutcracker at Wethersfield
Back in the long, dark Covid winter of 2020, there was no way the New York City Ballet could mount their traditional Christmas production of Tchaikovsky's fairytale. But choreographer Troy Schumacher had a dream to save the show -- reimagining a classic.
Pictures of Ghosts
A companion piece to Mendonça Filho's The Secret Agent, Pictures of Ghosts is a lovely, relaxed, ruminative riff on movies, memory, the imaginative space conferred by that place we call Cinema, seasoned with love and boundless anecdotes.
North of Ourselves
In the depths of winter, two adventurers set out to cross Quebec from one end to the other on bike and skis, exploring its staggering geography and meeting its inhabitants (human and otherwise) along the way.
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.
