On March 20, 2016, we where invited by our mate Steve de Roover to witness the ambitious short The Barrier of Silence, by first-time writer/director Robin E. Pipeleers. And we must admit we where very impressed by the shots and the story.. we wanted more! Robin E. Pipeleers, earned his stripes at film and television sets like MPU – Missing Persons Unit and a Belgian soap called the Crimi Clowns, but after a while he felt that he wanted to do more. Make movies himself and this resulted in The Barrier Of Silence.
The Story
Ivo Rombouts (played by Bob De Moor) is the personal driver of Frederik Bulinckx (Victor Peeters), CEO of a petrochemical multinational. Frederik looses himself in alcohol and women. His greed for money drives him straight into the arms of Russians who want to take over the company. Ivo tries to pull Frederik out of his downward spiral, but has his own personal problems to deal with…
A good driver hears and sees everything, but above all knows how to keep quiet…
Robin E. Pipeleers looks up to directors like Michael Mann and this shows in The Barrier Of Silence. This is clearly professional cinema with international ambition: exciting from beginning to end by tackling themes you normally don’t see in Belgian films, with stylish, slick and moody shots to boot. Director Pipeleers found the perfect production partner in the young production company Skladanowsky. After success on the international film festival scene with earlier productions Un Homme Bien (“Winner best social film” – Krivoy Rog Film Festival 2014, Ukraine) en Bleu (“Runner up” – Shortcutz Amsterdam 2015), Skladanowsky was ready for its most ambitious production to date with The Barrier of Silence. Without government support, but with a budget, also thanks to sponsors like Het Postkantoor, Eye Lite, MovieFX, Black and White Limousines, Euro-Rent, Cine Qua Non, Kinepolis, Jules Logistics, Crew Club Baal, 5th Avenue Hasselt, the shoot was heavy and with lots of logistical challenges. The film wrapped on november 4, 2015.
The film stars Bob De Moor (Deadline 25/5, De Paradijsvogels, Stille Waters), Victor Peeters (Familie, Zuidflank, Oud België), Ludo Hoogmartens (Aspe, Amateurs, The Memory of a Killer) en Isabelle Leybaert (Meisjes, Zone Stad, Kaat & Co). Post-production services and special effects are the work from “Het Postkantoor” en “Movie FX”, known from Black, MPU – Missing Persons Unit, Image and Belgica, among others.
The Barrier of Silences was produced by: Steve De Roover, who scored earlier with the vampire short Un Homme Bien (21 official film festival selections in 11 countries, and a worldwide VOD distribution deal), and Kevin Hoed, who is travelling the Europeaan festivals with his short Bleu and collecting a steady collection of nominations. Together they merged 4-Way Films en Sungarden Media, from which the new production company Skladanowsky was born. Since the beginning of 2015 Skladanowsky produced a wide array of commercials, online reports and music videos. If you want to know more, be sure to discover the official website: skladanowsky.
Information
The Barrier Of Silence is a production of Skladanowsky, a young and independent production company that specializes itself in a-typical shorts, documentaries, company films, music videos, features and other media.
For more info: skladanowsky and imdb
