a quiet con·triv·ance film by Jennifer Scully-Thurston (c) 2022 USA

The plot

A parable, within a coming of age, within the telling of the tale, "a quiet con•triv•ance" is a dance depiction of what the female-identified condition is like from the inside. From young to wise, able to differently-abled, without offspring into an empty nest.

In literary terms, a “contrivance” is something that causes things to happen in a story in a way that does not seem natural or believable. It can also be used as a machine or piece of equipment made with skill and cleverness and/or an artificial arrangement or development.

I am looking at how these definitions apply to the idea of “women’s work”.  A human-created, artificial arrangement or fabricated construct.  In a novel, the level of female multitasking and the mountain of daily responsibility would seem implausible... but it is simply the reality of women.  We go into "womanhood" with romantic ideas of partners, childbearing, and careers, but there aren't real conversations about it until you are in the thick of it. One can feel hoodwinked. These quietly assumed, unprocessed & unspoken societal obligations of female-identified humans, make the world function more efficiently but could be spread evenly across the gender spectrum. 

Then there is the pressure of trying to be ageless... a struggle that transcends race, culture, and time.

The plot twist was planted in history and it's taken for granted that the governing of all these responsibilities still lay in the hands of modern women. What is the toll these burdens take on the female body & mind? The relentlessness of what women do just to get to the end of each day.

• Age Rating General (12 and under)
• Running time 00:13:28 mins



Whats Next?

Find Screenings Newsletter Host A Screening