Watch Audience Feedback Video: BENDED BONDS, 6min, Belgium, Drama

BENDED BONDS, 6min, Belgium, Drama
Directed by Julie Janssens

Sarah and Jane, two sisters, haven’t spoken to each other for years. The death of their mother forces them to come together to make the arrangements for their legacy. Their painful memories and resentments crawl back to the surface.

Director Statement

The challenge of the movie was to communicate the paradox and complexity of siblings relationships through dialogs, silences and gazes. From an outside perspective, these tensions may seem ridiculously intense and dramatic. Sarah and Jeanne have a hard time understanding each other. They are trying to get away from some patterns transmitted by generational legacy. They claim who they are but they struggle to move through the perception of the family they grew up with.

What particularly concerns me is the unconditional love we share with our siblings. It’s the kind of relationship that allows low blows and induces a duty to reconcile. This relationship is undeniable because it is “the same flesh, the same blood”.

Also reconciliations are special in this love/hate relationship. From what I have observed in my own family, seldom are there proper apologies or truthful excuses. Most of the time, with my sister, we renew contact without obtaining a conflict resolution. Time passes, we forget about it until the next hint that will rekindle the flame. Between siblings we know exactly what to say to each other to piss or hurt each other. These recurrent conflicts become individual scars and/or common ones.

I also wanted to recreate this ambivalence in the title “Bended bonds”:
– ‘bended’ refers to the bended, twisted relationship they developed,
– ‘bonds’ refers to the brotherhood and the fact that they were tied to some things before they met again … but finally freed themselves.

The combination of the two terms expresses the paradox of their relationship. One expression cancels and/or complements the other … Moreover, this ambiguity leaves an open end for the viewer.

This short film was shot from start to finish in 72 hours as part of the Kino Kabaret at the “Off-Courts” Trouville 2016 festival.

This story is a realistic private session with the necessary subtilety to address the complexity of a sister’s relationship with accuracy and sensitivity.

Project Title (Original Language):Deliees a s’en tordre

Film Type:Short, Television

Runtime:6 minutes

Completion Date:September 17, 2016

Country of Origin:Belgium

Country of Filming:France

Film Language:French

Shooting Format:Digital

Film Color:Color