Sylvia
Written and directed by Jessie Barr
Starring Jena Malone, Tyler Rice, Amanda Carlin
Produced by Bri Goldberg, Jessie Barr, and Tess Harrison
Executive Produced by Lily Weisberg, Mike Bloom, and Boykin Curry
Director of photography Arlene Muller
Production Design and Title Design by Bex Karnofski
Edited by Alec Styborksi
Music + Sounds by Nate Heller
*Made possible by MOS Silent Film Grant 2025 and Isabella Rossellini
Online Premiere | Short of the Week 2026
World Premiere | Palm Springs International ShortFest 2026
Poster by Midnight Marauder
LOGLINE
Sylvia (Jena Malone) is waiting for her life to begin, withering under the weight of her hypochondriac mother until a stranger comes into her world and changes everything.
SYNOPSIS
Sylvia is a lonely, hard-of-hearing woman trapped caring for her hypochondriac mother. Stuck in domestic servitude, she secretly channels her repressed desires. When a handsome stranger fluent in sign language arrives to photograph old houses and stay a few nights, her world cracks open. Through glances, gestures, and stolen moments, a quiet, sensual connection blooms, offering a glimpse of the freedom she’s been denied. In a house of silence and control, Sylvia must choose between duty and desire. With no recorded dialogue, a lush immersive soundscape, and rich visual storytelling, Sylvia is a tactile, intimate portrait of longing, agency, and awakening.
ABOUT THE FILM
SYLVIA exists because of Gabi Mayers at Plot Twist Pictures (previously Killer Films), Isabella Rossellini, and Modern Silent Shorts 2025. Gabi Mayers recommended me for a grant to make a modern-day silent short film. The MOS Silent Short Film Grant mandate required no recorded sound on set. No recorded dialogue. The restriction was daunting at first, but ultimately freeing. What character would live in a silent world? What would feel truthful? Immediately, this character, this woman, Sylvia sprang to my mind. Her world is not the hearing world I was used to, so I became a student of the deaf and hard-of-hearing just as I became a student of silent films. I needed to immerse myself. I believe in studentship and the power of devotion in filmmaking.
I studied silent films like, "Menilmontant" (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926) a heartbreaking film with surprising editing. I love the performances and exploration of women's sexuality and restraint. "Bluebeard" (Georges Melies, 1901) brilliant effects, though a bit gruesome. Great fairy tale vibes. "The Cabbage-Patch Fairy" (Alice Guy-Blache, 1900) one of the most whimsical early shorts ever. SO fab. The lead actress connects with the camera marvelously. "Madame's Cravings" (Alice Guy-Blache, 1906) A hilarious, whimsical short about a pregnant woman with cravings who roams Paris and takes increasingly ridiculous objects from other people in her surroundings. "The Blue Bird" (Maurice Tourneur, 1918) a visually stunning fairy tale. "Beauty and the Beast" (Jean Cocteau, 1946) one of my favorite films of all time. Iconic.
I studied ASL with a teacher and immersed myself in deaf culture and artists, especially poets Meg Day, Camisha L. Jones, Ilya Kaminsky, and Kay Ulanday Barrett. I am by no means an expert. I am a visitor, but I hope those in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community feel seen in some way by the film. I’ve continued my studies and hope the film inspires others to examine not only their way of seeing, hearing, and being in the world but others’ too. A beautiful moment that sprang out of this was when I worked a job after Sylvia, there was a deaf HMU artist and I was able to communicate with them, albeit not elegantly, but communicate all the same. There's always power in the attempt.
