Exploring Regret and Redemption | Jeffrey St. Jules’ ‘The Silent Planet’ Captivates Festival Audiences
Toronto Film School’s Jeffrey St. Jules is enjoying some otherworldly success on the festival circuit this year with his latest feature film, The Silent Planet.
Written and directed by the longtime Film Production and Writing for Film & Television instructor, the 96-minute sci-fi thriller celebrated its world premiere in July at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, where it won the Silver Audience Award for Best Canadian Feature, followed by its international premiere earlier this month at Mostra Sao Paulo International Film Festival.
It’s also been nominated for two Directors Guild of Canada Awards – for Outstanding Achievement in Production Design and Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing.
The Silent Planet’s next festival stop is here in Toronto later this month at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival on Saturday, November 23 at 7 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St. W. Tickets can be purchased HERE.
Lauded as a “contemplative film” exploring regret, redemption, and redress, The Silent Planet follows an aging convict named Theodore (played by Elias Koteas) serving out a life sentence alone on a distant planet, when he is forced to confront his past upon the arrival of a new prisoner, Niyya (Briana Middleton) who pushes him to remember his life on Earth.
“The idea of escaping alone to another planet has always held an allure for me. As a child, I used to tell people I was from a planet called Zeyox that I would one day return to,” St. Jules said of the inspiration behind The Silent Planet, which was shot on location in the Tablelands of Newfoundland to give the film the sense of actually being in a desolate, alien land.
“Heading to a distant world and letting everything I’ve ever known fade away behind me felt like true freedom. It was a nice fantasy to escape into.”
For St. Jules, the question of whether or not it is possible to truly escape one’s past is central to the film – and something he hopes audiences contemplate when they watch The Silent Planet.
“Can we rewrite our past if there is nothing around to remind us of who we were? Are memories real if they have no connection to the world we are now living in? Can we leave it all behind?”
Watch The Silent Planet trailer here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwcMjNHtonI
Tickets to the film’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival screening on Saturday, November 23 at 7 p.m. can be purchased HERE.
