Captivating Silence
Channel: CAM/MAC Anthropologie / Anthropology / U Ottawa
Date: 2019-11-27

“Captivating Silence” is a short ethnographic film giving a glimpse of some of the social aspects of a person who stutters. Stuttering is often seen as a symptom of anxiety and distress but there is actually no direct correlation. The film discusses the things that are overlooked in the daily life of a stutterer such as the difficulty of making a phone call, involuntary motor speech, involuntary physical expressions, complex denial, avoidance attitudes and behaviours.

The film features a twenty year old student discussing with two mindful therapy figures on how to overcome her silent disability on UOttawa and Carleton campuses. The director’s motives for this film are directly related to her own quest and understanding of this phenomenon and hopes that it could help others as well. What does it mean when the major part of a person’s identity is being silenced and censored? 

By Laurine Beau de Rochars