Silence 1998

Directed by Orly Yadin

Silence is 11 minutes long but manages to pack 20 years of a little girl's experience. Using stark black and white animation and vivid colour animation, the story is told from a little girl's point of view. We follow the silences that were imposed on her first in Terezin (Theresienstadt) concentration camp and then in post-WWII Sweden, where her relatives don't ask any questions and don't permit them either. This is the true story of Tana, who has learned to keep silent and who finally, 50 years later, breaks her silence by narrating this short film. The film was adapted from a tone poem performed by Tana in Stockholm during an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.