A Quiet Place

A rigorous impression of three boys in a juvenile detention center trying to keep their heads above water. Damian confronts his warders with intelligent, sharp comebacks. Abou has a tendency to be rebellious, and the generally quiet Germain raises hell in his cell when it turns out he has unintentionally broken one of the countless rules. shows a world of difficult reeducation from the viewpoints of the young detainees, including the many clashes and the constant imposition of order. The boys themselves read the prison incident reports aloud. Alongside neutral observation, there’s also space for more intimate moments and personal – even poetic – outpourings. The young men are given cameras in their cells. Although we never see their faces, in this way they are able to reveal something about themselves: a memory of a goldfish, or the death of a best friend. Sjoerd Oostrik was able to make this film in part thanks to the Dutch Cultural Media Fund Documentary Award, presented to him at IDFA in 2014.