Not a Word

by Hanna Slak

Niti besede, 2023, fiction, co-production
Ready to premiere
DE, SI

When Nina finds out that her teenage son Lars has been injured in an accident at school, she is faced with a dilemma: Can she leave behind the rehearsals with her orchestra in order to be there completely for him…in a situation that could be a life-changing moment? The decision she makes is a compromise: for five days, she will leave Munich to take Lars on a getaway, to the island in western France where they usually spend their summer vacation — a place full of fond memories and significance to Lars. In winter, however, the island is no vacation paradise, but windy, dark and cold. In the small house on the beach, mother and son are forced to face each other. Thoughts of music haunt Nina, the calls from the mainland worry her. Is she just sabotaging her career, which she has fought so hard for…and for what? Lars withdraws further every day. Misunderstandings multiply, suppositions turn into suspicions: Was Lars a witness to a gruesome crime at school? Did he even participate in it? When a winter storm cuts the last connection to the mainland, a dangerous confrontation ensues.

screenwriter
Hanna Slak
director
Hanna Slak
producer
Michele Balague
co-producers
Miha Černec, Danijel Pek, Tomislav Cvitan
director of photography
Claire Mathon
film editor
Bettina Böhler
production designer
Klaus-Dieter Gruber
key make-up artist
Tina Lasič Andrejević
featuring
Maren Eggert, Jona Levin Nicolai, Maryam Zaree, Juliane Siebcke, Marko Mandić, Mehdi Nebbou, Yura Yang, Gina Haller, Matino Antunović, Ryuzo Fukuhara, Takuya Sumitomo
production
Volte films
co-production
Ici et Là Productions, Tramal Films, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Arte - Association relative à la télévision européenne, RTV Slovenija
in collaboration with
Film Studio Viba Film, Republika Slovenija (The Cash Rebate Scheme)
sales
Beta Cinema
Hanna Slak

Hanna Slak is a Berlin-based Slovenian-German film director, multimedia artist and author. Her filmography includes fiction features, documentaries and experimental short films, which have been shown at numerous renowned international film festivals and broadcast on television. Her last fiction feature The Miner (2017) was an international success and was also the official Slovenian entry for the Academy Awards. Not a Word is going to be her fourth fiction feature.

Awards:
Award best film (Warsaw Film Festival, 2023)