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Burst the Silence

Burst The Silence is a musical fable about a father and son and a gift that gives voice to a haunted past. Robbie is a precocious kid growing up with his father, Konnie. A charismatic and irrepressible storyteller, Konnie is also shadowed by a memory that has remained hidden in the woods of his childhood: how he, as a young boy, survived the Holocaust. A turn in both their lives comes when Konnie gives seven-year-old Robbie a guitar, neither of them yet realizing that it will allow Robbie to tell the only story his father never could. Burst The Silence is an elegiac memoir about forgetting and remembering and being lost. And being found.

  • Eric D. Schaeffer
    Director
    63rd Tony Awards (winner)
  • Robbie Schaefer
    Writer
  • Mark Maxey
    Producer
    Space Oddity, As They Made Us, Rare Objects, Up to Snuff
  • Marcy Harriell
    Key Cast
    "Chantelle"
    Men in Black: International, Nurse Jackie
  • Dylan Silver
    Key Cast
    "Ellie"
    Diary of a Spy, Downeast, CollegeHumor
  • Nick Blaemire
    Key Cast
    "Middle Robbie"
    Maestro, tick tick Boom!, Space Dogs the Musical
  • Susan Rome
    Key Cast
    "Rivka"
    The Wire, House of Cards, My One and Only
  • Declan Fennell
    Key Cast
    "Young Robbie"
  • Bobby Smith
    Key Cast
    "Konnie"
  • Robbie Schaefer
    Key Cast
    "Robbie"
    Eddie From Ohio
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Musical, Family
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 42 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 1, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF)
    Richmond, VA
    United States
    September 30, 2023
  • Albuquerque Film & Music Experience (AFMX)
    Albuquerque, NM
    United States
    September 27, 2023
    Winner Best Narrative Feature, Winner Best Soundtrack
  • North Carolina Film Festival (NCFF)
    New Bern, NC
    United States
    July 29, 2023
  • Iowa Independent Film Festival (IIFF)
    Mason City, IA
    United States
    September 9, 2023
    Winner, Critics Choice, Best Feature
  • Canadian International Faith & Family Film Festival
    Toronto, Ontario
    Canada
    September 29, 2023
  • Prescott Film Festival
    Prescott, AZ
    United States
    September 23, 2023
  • Other Venice Film Festival
    Venice, CA
    United States
    September 30, 2023
  • Orlando Film Festial
    Orlando, FL
    United States
    October 28, 2023
  • Miami Jewish Film Festival (MJFF)
    Miami, FL
    United States
    January 11, 2024
  • Culver City Film Festival
    Culver City, CA
    United States
    December 2, 2023
  • New Hope Film Festival
    United States
    April 5, 2024
Director Biography - Eric D. Schaeffer

Eric Schaeffer was the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Signature Theatre for 30 years from 1989-2019. Founded in 1989, Signature grew into a major force in the American Theatre.
Under his leadership, Signature Theatre was honored with the 2009 Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theater in America. On Broadway, Schaeffer directed Gigi, the critically acclaimed Follies as well as the Tony Award®-winning Million Dollar Quartet, Glory Days and Putting It Together starring Carol Burnett.
His West End credits include Million Dollar Quartet, The Witches of Eastwick, and Roy Orbison: In Dreams. He has directed Sweeney Todd (2017 & 2019) and Titanic in Seoul, South Korea. Schaeffer – who is known for his direction of Sondheim musicals having directed over 30 productions of his musicals worldwide – served as the Artistic Director of the acclaimed Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center in 2002 as well as directing its productions of Sunday in the Park with George and Passion.
He is currently developing Captain Nemo for Seoul, South Korea.

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Director Statement

When I first read the screenplay for Burst the Silence, I wondered how we would be able to afford going to India, Switzerland, Israel and Europe on an independent film budget. I knew it was going to take some creativity. But then came the idea of placing the whole movie in the woods - precisely where Konnie's horrific memories had taken place - seemed like the perfect solution. So much so that, without anyone realizing it, the woods suddenly became a character in and of itself. It brought the film alive in a new way so that the audience could lean in to the words, music and story. By the end of the film, the audience realizes that Konnie has been trapped in his own woods his entire life. The idea of him escaping the woods and his trauma as he stands in the tranquility of water - washing his heart clean - lets him be free. And the discovery that his sister is the person who opens Robbie’s world to the window of Konnie’s choice, allows Robbie himself to leave the woods and embark on his own new journey. I instantly knew that this was the best way to tell this story-- among the beauty of the leaves and trees which also served as a haunting memory of Konnie’s world.