SILVERING
DIRECTED BY EILDH NICOLL
UNITED KINGDOM // 2021
6 MINS
A ritualistic evening of self-care spirals into claustrophobic self-scrutiny when a woman discovers a grey hair and begins to contend with the passing of time.
UK Student Award Jury comments:
SILVERING features a really striking style of animation with a strong visual identity that expertly reflects the mood of the piece. It is so exciting and enticing to go on a whole journey within this enclosed space, within the short passage of time, after something as ordinarily mundane as a shower! The film really took us into the character’s psyche, on a short but intense ride.
It was both relatable and shocking to watch everything spin out of control and then land us back in reality again. The choice of framing was really sophisticated throughout. Looking forward to seeing more from Eilidh!
Reflective Encounters
“Elidh Niccol’s animation Silvering is a visually striking look at the fears women face during the aging process. The film speaks to anxieties pertaining to beauty standards imposed by our patriarchal society and the loss of self worth this can lead to.
Every aspect of the central female figure’s routine in the bathroom is subject to scrutiny - why do we shave our legs or pluck hairs from our face? Niccol offers answers at every turn - before we see the woman’s full image in the frame, we see parts of her reflected in a tap, half a medicine cabinet, and finally two mirrors. The modern world is designed to constantly remind us of what we look like, and it can inspire devastating emotional consequences.
Silvering offers a nightmarish vision of such a crisis beautifully rendered in hand-drawn animation. The central female figure feels trapped in a womb-like box as she imagines her hair greying and her breasts sagging. She eventually breaks out of her depressive spiral and leaves the bathroom, but the film ends with the potential for future self doubt. Niccol leaves us with these issues to ponder further and to consider the impact of age on women’s mental health.”
— Lillian Crawford
Filmmaker Q&A
A Q&A with filmmakers from the This Is Me programme at Encounters Film Festival 2021.
Filmmakers - Ruicheng Liang (Man Up In Lockdown), Lissi Simpson (Mexed), Eilidh Nicoll (Silvering), Arlo O'Callaghan - director and Camy Jaimes - cinematographer (Owen), Laura Jayne Tunbridge (Dragged Up) and Jack Pulford (Silver and Gold).
Hosted by Ren Scateni, Encounters Head of Programme.
Filmmaker Bio
Eilidh Nicoll is a Scottish animator and recent graduate of Edinburgh College of Art.
She works primarily in 2D animation – hand drawn and digital – but is also driven by an interest in process and materiality.
‘Silvering’ is her thesis film, completed in 2021.