Short Films

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SILENT FRIEND

• Director: Ildikó Enyedi
• GERMANY, HUNGARY, FRANCE / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 147' / German, English; Turkish, English s.t.

• Screenplay: Ildikó Enyedi
• Director of Photography: Gergely Pálos
• Editing: Károly Szalai
• Music: Gábor Keresztes, Kristóf Kelemen
• Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Luna Wedler, Enzo Brumm, Sylvester Groth, Martin Wuttke, Johannes Hegemann, Rainer Bock, Léa Seydoux
• Producer: Reinhard Brundig, Monika Mécs, Nicolas Elghozi, Morgane Olivier, MengXie
• Production Co.: Pandora Film, Inforg-M&M Film, Galatée Films, Rediance Films
• World Sales: Films Boutique
• Turkish Rights: Filmartı

2025 Venice FIPRESCI Award, Best Young Actor
2025 Chicago Best Cinematography

In the heart of a botanical garden in a medieval university town in Germany stands an ancient, majestic ginkgo tree. It is a silent witness that has observed over a century the quiet rhythms of transformation across three human lives: 2020 ––a neuroscientist from Hong Kong, researches the mind of babies. 1972 ––a young student is profoundly changed by the simple act of observing a geranium. 1908 ––the university’s first female student discovers, through the lens of photography, patterns of the universe. For her stunningly beautiful, thought-provoking follow-up to The Story of My Wife,Hungarian master filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi says ‘What is it like to be a tree? We don’t know. So, we won’t show it. Instead, we show human curiosity.’ A poetic, intimate film, Silent Friend brings an insight to why people talk to their plants ––it is a tranquil love letter to a hidden, quiet, mysterious life force that we cannot see but feel.

This film is screened with the support of Goethe-Istanbul and Kino 2026. 

This film is screened with the support of German Films.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.