Sales company Films Boutique has closed distribution deals for key territories for Ildiko Enyedi’s “Silent Friend,” which won six awards at Venice Film Festival after its world premiere in the main competition section, and also screened at Toronto.
The distributors that have picked up the film include September Film (Benelux), Mimosa Films (Japan), Movies Inspired (Italy), KMBO (France), Pandora (Germany), Filmcoopi (Switzerland), Filmin (Spain), Gutek Film (Poland), Andamiro Films (South Korea), Hi Gloss Entertainment (Australia/New Zealand), Leopardo Filmes (Portugal), Mozinet (Hungary), Bad Unicorn (Romania), Kino Aljansas (Baltics) and MCF Megacom (Ex-Yugoslavia).
“’Silent Friend’ is a unique film, and we could not have hoped for a better launch following the mesmerizing press and audience reactions in Venice and Toronto and the numerous awards, including the Venice Fipresci Prize and Best New Talent Award for Luna Wedler,” Films Boutique CEO Jean-Christophe Simon said.
“We are particularly happy that the enthusiasm we witnessed at both festivals translated into the strong commitment of some of the best independent distributors out there. We cannot wait for cinema goers all over the world to get the chance to discover Ildiko Enyedi‘s latest film, which is a playful and timely film questioning our relationship with nature.”
As well as the FIPRESCI Prize from the International Federation of Film Critics and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best new talent for Luna Wedler, the film won the Interfilm Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue, the Green Drop Award, the CinemaSara Prize and the Edipo Re Inclusion and Sustainability Award.
“Silent Friend,” which stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Luna Wedler, Enzo Brumm, Sylvester Groth and Léa Seydoux, centers on a majestic ginkgo tree in a botanical garden in a medieval university town in Germany.
This silent witness has observed over a century the quiet rhythms of transformation across three human lives.
In 2020, a neuroscientist from Hong Kong, exploring the mind of babies, begins an unexpected experiment with the old tree. In 1972, a young student is profoundly changed by the simple act of observing and connecting with a geranium. In 1908, the university’s first female student discovers, through the lens of photography, sacred patterns of the universe hidden within the humblest of plants.
We follow their clumsy, awkward attempts to connect — each one of them deeply rooted in their own present — as they are transformed by the quiet, enduring, and mysterious power of nature. The ancient ginkgo tree brings us closer to what it means to be human — to our longing to belong.
