In her short film Sukoun (Amplified) which screened in the Boundaries program of the 2024 Minikino Film Week 10 of the Bali International Film Festival, Palestinian-Jordinian filmmaker Dina Naser brings draws attention to the betrayal and confusion young victims of sexual harassment experience when someone they trust violates it.
(Image credit courtesy of Minikino)
In Arabic, the word “sukoon” or “sukoun” means to be still or to completely at rest, and for the film Dina uses to represent the state of inner calmness those who are deaf exist in in their life of silence. To those who are hearing, this may be difficult to understand as our world is filled with noise even in quiet spaces, there’s no true and complete absence of sound.
But what if living in silence wasn’t a hindrance, but a blessing because it provides people the opportunity to withdraw from the world in order to focus on healing? For 10-year-old Hind played by Malak Nassar, the silence of her world caused by deafness provides respite and an opportunity to find her determination after she’s sexually harassed by her karate teacher (Nadeem Al Rimawi) one evening after class when he hugs her much tighter and for longer than is comfortable than appropriate.
As a preteen, Hind isn’t much different to the other students in her class at the dojo. She loves the physical exertion she feels after completing a new combination of moves and the accomplishment recognitions of her growth as an athlete brings. And just like every kid her age her relationship with her mother played by Suhad Kahtib is filled with tension as they clash over Hind’s desire for more independence and her mother’s protective instincts.
(Image credit courtesy of Minikino)
However, unlike the other students, Hind’s world is thrown completely off its axis due to this assault. Though she doesn’t yet have the language to name what has happened to her, Hind knows that she’s been violated. She knows that what’s happened was wrong and that she’s no longer safe in the presence of a man she saw as a father figure. She knows, just like ever victim of sexual harassment and assault, that the way she moves through life and sees people, especially men has been forever changed. It’s this realization, and emotional and psychological progression that Dina and the cast have demonstrated with the utmost care and respect, but with a clarity that’s needed to show how trauma shatters a victim’s world view from childhood, through growing as a survivor into adulthood.
By making a film about the sexual assault of a disabled girl, Dina addresses an unfortunate reality that many girls and women are all too familiar with. In essence she amplifies the prevalence of these violating acts in society not only in Jordan where the film was made, but globally. In an effort to process the trauma that has been forced on them, victims can turn inward, pulling away from those closest to them, even parents like Hind does. It’s not to punish her mother, but it’s a defense mechanism, because for Hind, silence means safety. Silence is where she feels most comfortable. The sound design and mixing by Ensieh Maleki is as much a character of this film as Hind is. There’s a very delicate balance in the transitions from sound to the muffling that occurs when Hind puts in her hearing aids, and the absence of sound when she removes it. This gives hearing audiences just a hint of what it means to live with deafness, and hopefully encourages them to think not only about how being deaf impacts someone like Hind, but also those with other visible and invisible disabilities.
Sukoun (Amplified) should serve as a lesson for people to acknowledge the disabilities but don’t let that be all they see of the disabled person. Hind is a fully realized character, and Malak who is profoundly deaf, is a fully realized person who for her very first acting role accepted the challenge of playing a character like Hind, with the bravery and dedication she portrays in the character.
(Image credit courtesy of Minikino)
In my interview with Dina, we spoke about the time and care she spent speaking to professionals in the mental health field who specialize in treating and studying cases of sexual violence, the months she and the cast spent preparing for them to play their characters, and using film as a method of drawing attention to social issues.
Sukoun (Amplified) won the award for Best Short Film Grand Prize at the 2024 HollyShorts Film Festival resulting in its qualification for a 2025 Academy Award.
Carolyn Hinds
Freelance Film Critic, Journalist, Podcaster & YouTuber
African American Film Critics Association Member, Tomatometer-Approved Critic
Host & Producer Carolyn Talks…, and So Here’s What Happened! Podcast
Bylines at Authory.com/CarolynHinds
Twitter & Instagram: @CarrieCnh12
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