“Our film explores a microcosm of what is a global concern: societal polarization making communities vulnerable to extremist groups,” underlines US producer Ariel Tilson of the US/Iceland/Germany co-pro The Quiet Part by Rachel Lauren Mueller, and pitched at Impact Days 2026. Currently in post-production, the 85-minute film is set for an early 2027 delivery.
The synopsis reads how, when a pagan white supremacist group arrives in a Minnesotan farming town, it sparks an intense struggle over who has the right to belong, offering a disturbing warning about the normalization of extremism.
The controversial group, the Asatru Folk Assembly, co-opted Norse pagan mythology loosely modeled on the Icelandic faith, Ásatrú, but reframed for white nationalism. Their prolific online evangelism and aggressive recruiting in American prisons has led to chapters across the globe.
Through the eyes of residents who oppose the group and others who defend them, the film follows one community’s increasing tolerance toward ideologies they once condemned, revealing how extremism exploits the erosion of community and our primal yearning to belong.
“Our aim with our film’s impact campaign is to repair the ruptures of communal polarization through the simple practice of bringing divided communities together to watch a film and share their perspectives,” Tilson tells BDE. “In tandem to this, we are strategizing a digital campaign to intercept the radicalization by extremist groups that happens online, specifically through YouTube influencers.”
She further articulates her outreach goals in the film’s impact statement. “We believe communities built on authentic connection, despite individual differences, are the most resilient against extremism,” she writes. “As online radicalization fuels an exponential increase in extremist rhetoric worldwide, vulnerable communities are experiencing the resulting violence first-hand. Our film The Quiet Part reveals how one extremist group ingratiates itself into a community, worsening existing social divides. Told over five years, the film is a case study into how extremism becomes normalized. Our film and impact campaign empowers movements to address polarization, inspire leaders to promote tolerance, and help communities resist divisive influences.”
Tilsom believes director Rachel Lauren Mueller is more than capable of delivering “a compelling, nuanced story grounded in long-term relationship-building and deep listening,” she tells BDE. “Her ability to courageously allow the story and protaganists to speak for themselves in all their complexity, rather than shoe-horning a superficial bad guy versus good guy story, invites viewers to reflect and question their own complicity in contributing to polarization.”
From a production perspective, the producer outlines the year ahead. “The hurdles in the American market may be somewhat different than the European documentary market, namely investors often wanting to see a rough cut before buying in to the film,” she says.
“We’ve been so fortunate to have a number of prestigious foundations like the Ford Foundation and International Documentary Association, support us thus far, but we now feel the pressure to close our funding gap to get to rough cut, in order to allow our amazing editing team to fully illustrate the vision and impact of the film.”
“Of course impact fundraising and planning is frequently concurrent with the rest of the nonlinear documentary film process, so we are pleased to be here in Geneva envisioning the difference this film can make, while finding inspiration from our fellow filmmakers,” she signs off.
