Amber Heard is bringing her legal battles with ex-husband Johnny Depp to the big screen in a new documentary, titled Silenced.
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Silenced draws inspiration from the MeToo movement and beyond, centering around the weaponization of defamation laws against abuse survivors.
What is Silenced About?
Silenced is focused on the work of international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, using her 2023 book Silenced Women as a launching point.
While the MeToo movement prompted those who were abused to speak up, this documentary reveals how legal mechanisms have since been implemented to punish those women. The main punishment? Not being able to talk about their experiences in public.
Director Selina Miles talked about this issue and how it continues to take up space in today’s world.
“Anybody who works in this space will tell you that women’s efforts to speak about their experiences and to address this horribly pervasive issue, there’s not going to be a singular event that’s going to solve a problem. It’s this constant fight.”
Amber Heard’s Contributions
One of the biggest subjects in Silenced is Amber Heard. Years ago, she accused Johnny Depp of physical violence during their marriage, which sparked a legal debate that spanned two countries and two months of trial dates.
Depp sued The Sun for calling him a wife-beater, a libel case he later lost. He retaliated with a defamation case against Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post, which was ruled in favor of Depp.
In Silenced, Heard provides a new perspective on her experiences, focusing on defamation suits and the legal retaliation used against those who speak about gender-based violence or sexual abuse.
Miles commented about Heard’s participation in the documentary, stating, “Amber lent her voice to this film at great personal risk, and with everything that she’s been through, it’s extraordinary that she’s having the courage to continue to speak about her experience. She was emphatic to us from the beginning that this film isn’t about her.”
Losing Her Ability to Speak
Amber Heard seconds not wanting to be the focus of the documentary during its runtime.
“This is not about me. I have lost my ability to speak. I am not here to tell my story. I don’t want to tell my story. In fact, I don’t want to use my voice anymore. That’s the problem,” she states in a chat with Miles.
Legal Issues Between Heard and Depp
The issues started back in 2016, when Heard and Depp divorced. While the settlement was completed a few months later, in March 2019, the real trouble started when Depp sued his ex-wife for defamation for a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post.
While Depp lost his lawsuit in November 2020, Depp came back with a defamation trial where Heard and Depp made allegations of physical, emotional, and mental abuse against each other.
The whole event ended with both parties paying money in damages.
Other Cases in the Documentary
Amber Heard’s case is not the only one brought up in the documentary.
One case centers around Brittany Higgins, a onetime junior staffer who announced to the press she was raped by a fellow political staffer in Australia’s Parliament House.
Another case explored in the documentary is that of Colombian journalist Catalina Ruiz-Navarro, who was sued by director Ciro Guerra for defamation after publishing a story where eight women accused the filmmaker of sexual assault and abuse.
Calling Attention to Being Silenced
Miles stresses that the filmmakers for Silenced did not want to bring up these issues again in court. Instead, the documentary focuses on the issue of using defamation cases as a way to silence women.
“I really wanted to dedicate every minute of that to the first-hand, personal experience with these women. No to speculation, not to opinion,” stated the filmmaker.
Instead, they want to provide a different view of the issues, giving viewers the chance to see a new perspective. Plus, it’s not just lawsuits about “women’s issues.”
Miles says, “These kinds of lawsuits are coming for everybody. This is a major threat to free speech and freedom of the press.”
The main focus is to create conversation about these topics, instead of letting them fall into silence and be shoved to the back of people’s minds.
Where to Watch Silenced
As of now, the documentary has not been released to the public. If you want to watch the documentary online for a price, you can enjoy it here. As of now, Silenced has yet to find a distributor.
However, it could very well end up on a streaming service quickly due to the continued interest surrounding the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp case.