Directed by Ildikó Enyedi, 2025, Germany/France/Hungary/China, Not Rated, 147 minutes, Partially Subtitled

Spanning more than a century, Silent Friend unfolds through three interconnected stories linked by a single ginkgo tree growing in the botanical gardens of Marburg, Germany. Featuring an international cast led by Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Léa Seydoux, Luna Wedler, and Sylvester Groth, the film explores humanity’s relationship with nature, memory, science, and the unseen connections that bind living things together. Moving between 1908, 1972, and 2020, director Ildikó Enyedi creates a visually stunning meditation on time and consciousness that is both intimate and expansive. Premiering in competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Silent Friend won the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize, the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Luna Wedler, and several additional festival honors. Critics were captivated by its ambition and originality, with The Film Verdict calling it “a memorable, stirring adventure of ideas,” while Deadline praised it as “beautiful, elusive and peppered with provocative nuggets about the nature of life and our place in it.”

Munson Film Series is sponsored by M&T Bank and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.