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Julie Keeps Quiet film image; woman in action swinging something in one hand

Julie Keeps Quiet

Julie zwijgt

Panorama

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When her coach falls under investigation following the suicide of a former trainee, Julie (Tessa Van den Broeck), a young tennis ace, is thrown into turmoil. In addition to juggling the pressures of school, adjusting to a new coach, and training for the Belgian Tennis Federation’s upcoming trials, she finds herself under acute pressure to speak out. Her reluctance to do so distances her from family and friends, resulting in a solitary struggle that she alone can resolve.

Directed with unerring precision by Belgian filmmaker Leonardo Van Dijl, this is a tense, topical psychological drama where every gesture and movement, every silence and absence, is charged with import. Featuring claustrophobic shallow-focus compositions, darkly lit interiors, and a foreboding soundscape, and anchored by a steely performance from newcomer Van den Broeck, this is a provocative film about the cultures of abuse within the sports world, and the toll it takes on those caught within it.

The movie’s silence is so loaded with the anxiety, obstinance, inchoate anger and desire for anonymity of the traumatized teenage sportswoman that the constant thwack of her racquet hitting the ball cuts through the tension like violent shocks.

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Tessa Van den Broeck, Grace Biot, Alyssa Lorette, Ruth Becquart, Koen De Bouw, Pierre Gervais

Credits
Country of Origin

Belgium/Sweden

Year

2024

Language

In Dutch and French with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

100 min
Drama
De Wereldvrede

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Producer

Gilles De Schryver, Gilles Coulier, Wouter Sap, Roxanne Sarkozi

Screenwriter

Leonardo van Dijl, Ruth Becquart

Cinematography

Nicolas Karakatsanis

Editor

Bert Jacobs

Original Music

Caroline Shaw

Art Director

Julien Denis

Leonardo van Dijl headshot; Julie Keeps Quiet director

Leonardo van Dijl

Leonardo van Dijl is a writer and director based in Belgium. His latest short film Stephanie (2020) was selected for the official competition of Cannes, San Sebastian, and TIFF as well as over 150 other film festivals where it received various national and international awards. Leonardo’s feature debut Julie Keeps Quiet, a co-production between De Wereldvrede, Les Films du Fleuve, Hobab, and Film i Väst, had its world premiere in May 2024 at the prestigious Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival.

Photo by Nicolas Karakatsanis

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