The Tale of Silyan
North Macedonia, USA2025documentary80'Documentary competition
What could an old Macedonian legend about a boy turned into a stork possibly have in common with farmers’ protests on the fringes of modern-day Europe? In villages that are becoming depopulated, these are the storks that often prove to be the most loyal companions for the last remaining residents. One of them, Nicola, whose family emigrated to the West, is trying to survive in increasingly more difficult conditions for traditional agriculture. Drawing on magic realism, the documentary tells the story of change in the world, a deteriorating landscape and the common fate of people and animals. It tries to preserve the beauty of the disappearing world.
- directed by
- Tamara Kotevska
She was born in Prilep, North Macedonia. In 2010, she won a US exchange student scholarship and moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she continued to study documentary filmmaking. Upon her return to North Macedonia, Kotevska co-directed 'Lake of Apples' (2016), a short documentary that received over ten grand prizes at film festivals around the world. Tamara co-directed her debut feature-length documentary 'Honeyland', which went on to win three awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival including the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary and two Academy Award nominations in 2020 for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature. After 'Honeyland', she directed her second feature-length documentary, 'The Walk'. She is currently in post-production on her debut fiction film.
- cinematography
- Jean Dakar
- script
- Tamara Kotevska, Suz Curtis
- music
- Joe Wilson Davies, HunOuk Park
- sound
- Aleksandar Protic
- editing
- Martin Ivanov
- production
- Tamara Kotevska, Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski
- Photo
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- Trailer