PRESENTS
SILENT FRIEND
A FILM by ILDIKÓ ENYEDI
FIPRESCI PRIZE and MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD
VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025
For Immediate Release – Films We Like is proud to announce the acquisition of Silent Friend, the newest feature from award-winning Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi (Academy Award nominated On Body and Soul).
The film features an exceptional international cast, including Tony Leung Chiu-wai (In the Mood for Love) and Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Colour).
Silent Friend had its world premiere at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for newcomer Luna Wedler.
Set in a botanical garden in a medieval university town in Germany, Silent Friend unfolds around a majestic ginkgo tree that has stood for more than a century.
A silent witness to time, the tree observes the lives of three people across different eras, each changed by their encounter with the natural world.
2020: A neuroscientist from Hong Kong, studying the minds of babies, begins an unexpected experiment involving the old tree.
1972: A young student is deeply affected by the simple act of observing — and connecting with — a geranium.
1908: The university’s first female student uses photography to discover striking patterns in the natural world, hidden in even the most ordinary plants.
The film follows their attempts to connect — with nature, with one another, and with themselves. Across time, Silent Friend becomes a moving reflection on transformation, belonging, and what it means to be human.
Silent Friend opens in Canada on May 15, 2026.
Running time 147 minutes
County Germany/Hungary/France
Language German, English
Media Contact mercy@filmswelike.com
About Films We Like
Founded by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann (Clairtone, Grass, Comic Book Confidential, Carmine Street Guitars) Films We Like is a boutique distributor of documentary, independent, and international films in Canada. Recent releases include Resurrection, A Poet, and the Academy Award-winning film Flow.