Silent Friend (2025)

Ildikó Enyedi | Germany, France, Hungary | 2025 | 147 min | M18 (Some Nudity and Drug Use) A centuries-old ginkgo tree bears witness to three kindred spirits whose curiosity about nature pushes against the limits of their era. An omnibus featuring the likes of Tony Leung and Léa Seydoux traces experiments with the natural world conducted by a curious person within a German university in three drastically different eras. In 1908, the first female science student discovers natural patterns of the universe through photography while she battles academic misogyny. In 1972, an awkward student tries to communicate with a geranium put in his care. In 2020, a neuroscientist is inspired to expand his research into babies’ minds to the plants who have become his main companions during lockdown. In each story, an ancient ginkgo biloba tree stands sentry and is drawn into the character’s quest for connection with nature and the people around them. Filmed in different mediums – 35mm black and white in the 1908 period, 16mm in the 1972 period, and digitally for 2020 – to illustrate the flow of time texturally, Ildikó Enyedi’s enchanting and meditative universe centers non-human life as the calming constant and renders human-centred drama as the passer-by.