The story
Silent Waters tells a story about the Bosnian Amir, Nada and their daughter Lejla. They live in a small Bosnian village in 1992. As ethnic tensions in the country are rising, Amir and Nada can’t agree on the way they want to protect Lejla. Their conflict overshadows the atmosphere in their house, which affects Lejla. She starts acting indifferent. Amir does everything he can to get closer to her, but when real danger and betrayal intrude, their safety is the only thing that matters.
Representation
In april 2022, the director of Silent Waters, Brent Bosker, went to the theatre to see a play called Dangerous Names, which tells a story about Srebrenica and the genocide that took place in 1995. It was his main inspiration to make this film.
"Until the moment I saw the play I didn't know anything about Bosnia and Herzegovina, let alone it's confronting but important recent history. The Netherlands also played a crucial and controversial role in this war, however, it appeared that very few people in The Netherlands know what really happened there. In particular the perspective of Bosnian victims is under-represented. I instantly felt that I wanted to dive into this history and contribute to it's representation in The Netherlands. I think I can be of value to that as a filmmaker; by telling a story which is accessible for a Dutch audience, but with the potence to have social impact." - Brent Bosker
Brent decided to dedicate his graduation film to this story, and took the perspective of Bosnian victims as a starting point for the plot. A long period of doing field research, reading and visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina followed. A lot of different stories told by people who survived the war themselves formed the base of the script. Early 2023 the short film was realized.
Realisation and distribution
After writing the script we had a succesful crowdfunding to cover most of our expenses. In february 2023 the shooting of the film started. Most of the scènes were shot in The Netherlands. Three of the nine shooting days took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular to shoot some exterior scènes. In total, a cast and crew of 71 people contributed to telling this important story.
The film will premiere at the NFF (Nederlands Film Festival) in september 2023. After that we will send the film to different filmfestivals internationally to give the film an audience and to increase it's social impact.
On set in Driesum, february 2023
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