• Breaking Silence
American Short Films Competition
Breaking Silence
Amy Bench & Annie Silverstein
Documentary | USA | 2023 | 18 min
Date & Time
Screen
VERSION
20:30 - Fri. 23 Jun 2023
Le Lincoln - Salle 1
VOSTFR
14:00 - Sat. 24 Jun 2023
Le Lincoln - Salle 3
VOSTFR
SYNOPSIS

BREAKING SILENCE is a verité portrait of Walker and Leslie Estes, a deaf father and CODA daughter from Baton Rouge, LA, who work together upon Leslie’s release from prison — driven by their shared experiences of incarceration and deafness — to help others in their community affected by the prison system. It is an intimate exploration into parenthood, regret, and, ultimately, healing

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Director: Documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Amy Bench is drawn to the immediacy of film and photography for telling stories of resilience and community. Her work explores immigration/migration narratives, communication access for the Deaf, reproductive justice, and LBGTQ+ rights, and involves both animation and live action as a way to connect emotionally with audiences. Her short film "More Than I Want to Remember" (2022) won an NAACP Image Award, a Social Impact Media (SIMA) Award, and was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2023. "More Than I Want to Remember" won Best Animated Short at the Tribeca Film Festival, Best International Short Documentary at Hot Docs, and is di stributed by MTV Documentary Films on Paramount+. Her most recent short film, “Breaking Silence,” (2023) won both the Jury Award and the Audience Award in its category at SXSW. As a cinematographer, Amy collaborates closely with directors, often working i n the cinema verité tradition. She was the cinematographer on the Emmy award - winning short “Trans in America: Texas Strong” (2019) about young trans activist Kai Shappley and her formerly conservative mother, Kimberly. “Texas Strong” grew into the feature “Mama Bears,” which will make its broadcast premiere on PBS’s “Independent Lens” in June 2023. She is a cinematographer on upcoming features and series from Julie Cohen (RBG, Julia), Kim Snyder (Newtown, Us Kids), Josephine Decker (Shirley), and Louie Psih oyos (The Cove).

Co- director: Annie Silverstein is an award - winning filmmaker based in Austin. After earning her MFA in Film Production from the University of Texas, Annie’s short film, Skunk won the jury award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival – Cin é fondation. Before att ending film school, Annie spent ten years as a youth worker and media educator, collaborating on community film based projects with Native American youth on reservations across Washington State. She co - founded and served as Artistic Director at Longhouse M edia, an indigenous film organization based in Seattle. Annie recently premiered her debut feature, BULL, at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard. BULL won the top awards at the Deauville American Film Festival and was nominated for three Independ ent Spirit Awards, including the Best Male Lead, Best Cinematography, and the ‘Someone to Watch’ Award. Annie is a Sundance Screenwriting and Directors Lab Fellow.

FILM INFO
Year : 2023
Country : USA
Runtime : 18 min
Language : -
Colour : -

Festival sponsors

  • dulac
  • publicis
  • drugstore
  • bnaque
  • ratp
  • Audiens
  • metro_top
  • mairie
  • logo_qfap
  • titra
  • davines
  • vernet2
  • logo
  • acid
  • SeeTickets_Logo-1
  • nova
  • francetv
  • sens
  • paris
  • tsugi
  • konbini
  • Causette
  • Premiere
  • sens
  • film_francais
  • Caron
  • Osmane
  • flora
  • vinyl
  • parisienne2
  • logo_loreal_paris_n100
  • michel
  • mairie
  • galerie
  • allo
  • arc2
  • publicis
  • balzac2
  • lincoln
  • ugc2
  • gaumont
  • innocent2
  • robert_laffont
  • marcel
  • joseph
  • emmaus