In 1970, Germaine Greer wrote in The Female Eunuch, “Women have very little idea how much men hate them.” At the time, it was one of many controversies stirred by the book. Tragically, it seems truer today than it did 56 years ago. And if you’re of a mind to disagree, watch Silenced – Speaking Up Comes at a Cost.

Jennifer Robinson, Brittany Higgins and Catalina Ruiz-Navarro. Photo © Michael Latham

Emmy Award-winning Australian director Selina Miles, whose chosen fields to date are feature documentary and music video, has directed the post #MeToo documentary Silenced. It is beautiful to look at, using a closely observed, cinema vérité style, with hand-held camera by cinematographer Michael Latham. Without the conventional distancing of traditional documentary, you are instantly drawn in.

The film’s immediate focus and narrative thread centre on international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, a silk at Doughty Street Chambers in London, and her 2022 book How Many More Women?, co-authored with British barrister Keio Yoshida. Among her many groundbreaking cases, Robinson has famously acted for Julian Assange, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and the activist citizens of West Papua. Here,...