Still: Beyond Silence - Marnie Blok

Marnie Blok’s Beyond Silence*, receiving its international premier at Tribeca, may only be seventeen minutes long but it packs an enormous punch.

The film concerns brilliant PHD student Eva who, after being sexually assaulted by her male professor and mentor, turns to an older female academic advisor for guidance and support. However, help is not forthcoming. The courage that Eva shows in “breaking the silence” is disregarded. “You want equal rights, equals opportunities? Then you must also be willing to take equal risks,” she is bluntly told. Gradually, as the conversation unfolds, Eva begins to sense that the woman herself has endured something in her past. This inability by the older woman to confront events in her past life, in the end sparks Eva’s courage in speaking out.

The film, shot over three days, has the most personal of undertows. Director Blok was raped as a young woman when camping in Spain, but always vowed that “a happy life was the best revenge.”

“That did help me, for sure,” says Blok. “But when research showed me how big the group of victims is that are silenced either by themselves or by society, I realized that, if you want to get to that happy life, something else needs to happen first: breaking that silence and placing the guilt and shame where they belong - with the perpetrator.”

Blok observed the global #MeToo protests and was shocked at some of the reactions of ‘fatigue’ and irritation by older women. They felt the movement went too far, characterized by “humourless, one-dimensional puritanism.”

“I thought their criticism was so entirely inappropriate,” Blok tells SEE NL.

“Young women demand change, while an older generation warns against the victim role because victimhood stands in stark contrast to the image of the 'strong woman.'  It's as if victimhood and being weak is the same, but it is not the same.”

“I was really shocked by the message that came across; get over it. Ignore. Get on with life. Don't be too difficult. That's exactly not the message we should give,” she adds.

Blok’s dramatic and highly moving film unites these generational attitudes, with the drama ramped up by Eva being played by the brilliant deaf actress Henrianne Jansen, making her screen debut, whose increasingly frustrated communications are signed by Sigrid ten Napel, who plays Anna, Eva’s sister. The trio is completed by Dutch doyenne Tamar van den Dop, who plays the academic advisor.

In the film, tension reaches an emotional (and shocking) peak when Eva screams a guttural ‘no’ when the advisor suggests she keeps quiet to avoid “academic suicide” and any further “cross-examination.”

“I promised myself I would make this movie completely on my gut feeling,” says director Blok of her decision to go with newcomer Jansen.

Their first meeting was with an interpreter. “Meeting Henrianne I felt I could make it work if we would spend a lot of time together- which we did. I taught her about acting, told her about my life and why I needed to make this movie.  She taught me about the world of the deaf and let me into her life.”

“I was completely determined to find a deaf person,” Blok adds. Yes, the director was aware of industry concerns over inclusivity, but more importantly, she wanted sensory authenticity within the character of Eva.

Were there any risks in loading so much responsibility on the shoulders of a debutant? “I never thought of it in that way. True, I was not completely sure what I was going to get when we started shooting. But I knew that having Tamar and Sigrid on set would give me possibilities to navigate problems when Henrianne was not able to deliver.”

“Also acting is a lot about enabling someone else to act,” Blok continues. “I had two brilliant actresses who would give a lot to Henrianne. In the end, my worries proved completely unfounded. Henrianne was amazing. “

Find out more about Tribeca here.

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Beyond Silence is directed by Marnie Blok and produced by PRPL.

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*film supported by the Netherlands Film Fund