Silent Partner
The doors are closed. There are no more screenings of this film.
Synopsis: Silas Jones is an accomplished, Black trial attorney on the cusp of making partner at a white-shoe law firm. Upon successfully defending a white woman charged with murdering a Black teen, Silas comes to a crossroads with his wife Kosi, an equally accomplished professor, as they prepare to attend the firm’s celebration. As the night progresses, Silas questions the legitimacy of his promotion. Will he make the ultimate sacrifice?
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Director's Statement
My goal for “Silent Partner” was to find a creative take in shedding light on racial microaggressions—offenses that are commonly overlooked in the daily lives of minorities around the world. Society is so entrenched in this type of “safe racism” that if you dare hold a person accountable or even acknowledge what they said or did, you’ll be labeled as “hypersensitive” or “not being able to take a joke.” This grey area is the world we explore and where our protagonist is currently submerged. Dealing with such a polarizing—yet everyday—topic, I wanted to utilize hyperbole to create moments of levity, allowing for the perspective to be heard and accepted, challenging our audience to question themselves and the world around them.
Director's Bio
Aristotle Torres is a writer, director, from The Bronx, NYC. He has built a career directing music videos, experimenting with photography, and telling award-winning stories. He most recently directed, wrote and produced branded content for a global Starbucks campaign and was chosen as a Sundance Film Festival 2019 Screenwriting Fellow, developing his debut feature film, “Story Ave,” which begins production Spring ’21 and stars Caleb McLaughlin and Luis Guzmán.
The journey into narrative filmmaking began in 2015 when he wrote and directed his first short film, “S2T,” a loose adaption of Notorious BIG’s “I Got A Story Tell.” Sean “Puffy” Combs went on to purchase the film. Shortly after he went on to produce a feature film “Are We Not Cats.” In 2017, he created a proof of concept short film for “Story Ave” which has received an official selection to a variety of regional film festivals across the US. In 2018, he wrote and directed his third short film, “The Chair,” a Mandarin thriller shot on location in Taiwan.
