Silent Friend 1
A mighty gingko tree in a German university town bears silent witness to the lives of three characters over more than a century. In 1908, a bright botanist (Luna Wedler, Best Young Actress, Venice 2025) forges a challenging path as the first female student accepted by the male-dominated institution. In 1972, two classmates bond over a geranium in politically charged times. And in 2020, a lonely visiting neuroscientist (Leung Chiu-wai), stuck on campus, seeks meaning from the tree’s electromagnetic signals under the guidance of a French biologist (Seydoux). Oscar-nominated SFF regular Ildikó Enyedi returns in resplendent form with this perceptive exploration of humanity’s deep-rooted connection with nature.
Special Guests
Ildikó Enyedi is an award-winning and Oscar nominated director. Her first feature film, MY XX. CENTURY won the Golden Camera for best debut in Cannes, MAGIC HUNTER competed in Venice, followed by TAMAS AND JULI (Venice special screening) and SIMON THE MAGICIAN (Locarno, special prize). After a long absence, while she made shorts and worked with HBO, she returned to feature films with ON BODY AND SOUL (Berlinale, Golden Bear 2017 / Oscar Nomination) and THE STORY OF MY WIFE (Cannes Competition 2021). Among others, she served on the main jury in Berlin (1990, 2021) and Venice (2018) and was jury president of shorts in Cannes (2024).
Tickets
Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.
We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.
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