Technical details
Narrative Short - UK - 13 minutes 22 seconds - English (With subtitles)
Cast and Credits
Director - Kathryn O'Reilly
Writer - Kathryn O'Reilly
Producer - Kathryn O'Reilly
Producer - Anna Doolan
Key Cast
Anna Doolan - "Heidi"
Sam Phillips - "Tom"
Cinematographer - Agnelo Wayne Rodrigues
Steadicam Operator - Aadhar Gupta
1st AC - Rai-Lee Pham
Set Designer - Bibi Baker
Script Supervisor - Angel Lloyd
Makeup Artist - Morgane Latrace
Sound Recordist - Nick Grant
Fight Director - Joseph Emms
Gaffer - Andy Clarke
1st AD - Andrea Ratti
3rd AD - Markel Knight
Colourist - Jingshu Chu
Costume Designer - Cieranne Kennedy-Bell
Heidi obsesses over her ex, Tom, leaving gifts and love notes. Desperate, she invites him over to fix a fallen picture of them, pleading that she’s changed and wants him back forever. Reality hits hard when she sees he’s moved on and no longer loves her. Consumed by heartbreak and jealousy, she wonders—if she can’t have him, why should anyone else?
Screening Details:
Female Perspectives Onscreen. April 25th 2026. 3:00pm-8:00pm. Venue to be announced.
Director biography
- Kathryn O'Reilly
This is the beginning of Kathryn’s directing journey. Having recently completed the Directors Series short course at NFTS, Silence marks her directorial debut. With over ten years of industry experience, she brings a wealth of expertise both in front of and behind the camera, as well as on stage, drawing on a strong background in theatre.
Kathryn has worked extensively as a First Assistant Director on television shows such as Testament, The Cockfields, and Deep Fake Neighbour Wars, and on over 70 short films, including Channel 4 short Person of Interest starring Asim Chaudhry and Julia Davis; Largo (2024) starring Tamsin Greig; award-winning What We Wished We Could Be (2024); Alice (2024) and The Colour of My Room (2024); Ceres (2022) starring Juliet Stevenson; Fifty-Four Days (2022) starring Cat White and Celia Imrie; and Sir Isaac Julien’s art-house film Once Again…(Statues Never Die), screened at Tate Britain, starring André Holland and Sharlene Whyte. She has also produced works including the short documentary Beyond the Divide (2025), which premiered at Raindance and is available on Netflix’s YouTube channel, and the award-winning LGBT+ short 175 (2024).
A trained actor (LAMDA, BA Hons), Kathryn has toured nationally and internationally with theatre productions and appeared on screen in Random (BAFTA-winning TV film), Call The Midwife (BBC), Grantchester (ITV), Lewis (ITV), and Holby City (BBC). She is passionate about the arts as a catalyst for discussion and change, and her work seeks to explore themes that resonate deeply with audiences, tackling challenging and meaningful stories such as abuse, grooming, and societal issues.