The Quietest Year

Local filmmaker Karen Akins’ award-winning documentary on noise and health, featuring post-show Q & A with the filmmaker and special guests.

Filmmaker Karen Akins’ darkly quirky personal quest to curb noise pollution in her quaint Vermont village uncovers the dire consequences of lax noise control not only in her home state but throughout the U.S.

The Quietest Year is above all a wake-up call, a human film attentive to the issues of its time. By focusing on a subject that tends to be minimized, the filmmaker manages to highlight a host of current societal issues among the most burning. Skillfully executed and documented, brilliantly edited, alarming but never moralizing, Karen Akins’ film is a successful plea for the regulation of noise nuisances, the harmful effects of which are undeniable on health. – Film Fest Review, April 12, 2024

Karen Akins is an award winning documentary film director with a strong interest in health, social justice, and the environment. Awards: Best Documentary Director, Harlem Film Festival (2020)-El Susto, Best Story, Toronto Feature Documentary and Shorts Festival (2024)-The Quietest Year.

Karen’s first documentary EL SUSTO, released in 2019, explored the politics of sugary drinks and diabetes in Mexico. It is currently available on streaming platforms and also widely used in universities, global health programs, medical schools, and with Latino Health groups. Awards include Best National Feature, South Texas International Film Festival, 2nd Place Documentary, United Latin International Film Festival, Official Selection at the Global Health Film Festival (London), Public Health Film Festival (Munich), Breakthroughs: The Tulane Public Health and Social Justice Film Festival, Festival de Cine Latino Americano-Norte (Finalist), and the New Haven Documentary Film Festival

The Quietest Year, Karen’s newest documentary, which delves into the topic of noise pollution and its affect on health, is currenty in its film festival phase, having been an official selection of the Global Health Film Festival, London, Made Here Film Festival, Vermont Film& Folk Festival, Vermont Film Festival, Toronto Feature Documentary and Shorts Festival, and the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival.

Demonstrating her love of interdisciplinary fields of study, Karen holds 2 masters degrees in City Design and Social Science (2002) and International Relations (1979), both from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She lives in Stowe, Vermont where she enjoys outdoor pursuits and quiet… when she can get it.