Said to be inspired by real events, yes Studios, the Israeli producer and distributor best-known for hit drama series such as Fauda, Your Honour and Shtisel, has launched Unsilenced, its latest high-profile drama.
Inspired by the novel The Confidante by Odelia Carmon, Unsilenced is a six-part series about sexual violence, the lengths to which an influential perpetrator, in this case a President - and his allies - will go to silence victims, protect themselves and keep their crimes out of the public eye, and how women bound by experience can come together to seek justice. It is set in the early 2000s, at a time, pre #metoo, when powerful men and the systems and people they installed around themselves could readily mask – and indeed perpetuate - abhorrent behaviours. And it was a time when the women who were brave enough to speak out were rarely believed, considered crazy – and risked losing everything.
A recently elected President continually forces himself upon a new member of his team – a bright and ambitious young woman from a humble background. Desperate to keep her job, she asks the President’s chief of staff for help, but he shows his complicity with the situation by first looking the other way and then, as things escalate, by engineering a brutal campaign to discredit her and keep her quiet. Refusing to be silenced for being a victim, she bravely pursues her claims of abuse, and is eventually joined by other women that the President had attacked during his rise through political ranks.
Each of the first five episodes is told from a different point of view: two from individual victims – the lead protagonist and another, who is her opposite in life - and then one each from the President’s chief of staff, the President’s wife, and the President himself. The final episode brings all their stories together in a potent resolution.
Unsilenced was created by Avraham Shalom Levi, Tamar Marom, Moish Goldberg and Einat Zilber Damari, with Odelia Carmon as co-creator. The series was written by Avraham Shalom Levi and Tamar Marom, directed by Moish Goldberg and produced by Great Productions and yes TV. yes Studios handles worldwide distribution for the completed series and the scripted format.
“Impactful stories like the one so skilfully captured in Unsilenced have driven female empowerment and encouraged women to use their voices against those who exploit positions of power,” commented Sharon Levi, managing director of yes Studios. “The lead character, operating in the pre-#metoo era, was a pioneer and while we also hear points of view from several finely drawn and complex characters in this series – including from the President himself - there is, in reality, only one truth. We are confident that Unsilenced will be in demand internationally, both as a completed series and a format, and that the main story arc and different perspectives in each episode will provoke discussion amongst audiences everywhere.”
A recently elected President continually forces himself upon a new member of his team – a bright and ambitious young woman from a humble background. Desperate to keep her job, she asks the President’s chief of staff for help, but he shows his complicity with the situation by first looking the other way and then, as things escalate, by engineering a brutal campaign to discredit her and keep her quiet. Refusing to be silenced for being a victim, she bravely pursues her claims of abuse, and is eventually joined by other women that the President had attacked during his rise through political ranks.
Each of the first five episodes is told from a different point of view: two from individual victims – the lead protagonist and another, who is her opposite in life - and then one each from the President’s chief of staff, the President’s wife, and the President himself. The final episode brings all their stories together in a potent resolution.
Unsilenced was created by Avraham Shalom Levi, Tamar Marom, Moish Goldberg and Einat Zilber Damari, with Odelia Carmon as co-creator. The series was written by Avraham Shalom Levi and Tamar Marom, directed by Moish Goldberg and produced by Great Productions and yes TV. yes Studios handles worldwide distribution for the completed series and the scripted format.
“Impactful stories like the one so skilfully captured in Unsilenced have driven female empowerment and encouraged women to use their voices against those who exploit positions of power,” commented Sharon Levi, managing director of yes Studios. “The lead character, operating in the pre-#metoo era, was a pioneer and while we also hear points of view from several finely drawn and complex characters in this series – including from the President himself - there is, in reality, only one truth. We are confident that Unsilenced will be in demand internationally, both as a completed series and a format, and that the main story arc and different perspectives in each episode will provoke discussion amongst audiences everywhere.”
