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The Tale of Silyan

Tamara Kotevska
Tue 24 Feb - Mon 2 Mar
  • Content rating: Watch out with children under 12
  • Content rating: Fear

North Macedonia, harvest season. Farmer Nikola and his wife Jana live in harmony with their land, nature, and each other. Life is good, until their idyll is disrupted by the harsh reality of new government measures. The couple is no longer able to sell their crops. When Nikola's family leaves in search of a better life abroad, he is forced to take a job as a worker at a landfill. Here he meets Silyan, a white stork who has been abandoned by his family because of a broken wing.

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A wonderful story about the friendship between a man and a stork

★★★★ Trouw

While Nikola cares for the injured bird and helps it recover, an unexpected friendship develops between man and animal. A bond that becomes so strong that Nikola decides to plow his land again to make it fertile.

In The Tale of Silyan, Nikola's life miraculously coincides with a 17th-century Macedonian folk tale about Silyan, a farmer's son who is cursed by his father and turned into a lonely stork. The result is a deeply moving, intimate documentary about the quiet power of connection, resilience, and hope, in which director Tamara Kotevska also addresses themes such as climate change and economic migration. Kotevska, known for the Oscar-nominated Honeyland, once again amazes with The Tale of Silyan with her characteristic rich storytelling and enchanting, warm images. Her documentary had a successful premiere in Venice, receiving many rave reviews from the international press.

The Tale of Silyan
Direction
Tamara Kotevska
Duration
81 min
RELEASE
Thu 29 Jan
Year
2025
Country
Macedonia
Language
Macedonisch
Subtitles
Dutch
  • Content rating: Watch out with children under 12
  • Content rating: Fear

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