The Tale of Silyan

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• Location: Filmhuis Den Haag

North Macedonia, harvest season. Farmer Nikola and his wife Jana live in harmony with their land, nature and each other. Life is good, until their idyll is disrupted by the harsh reality of new government measures. The couple are no longer able to sell their crops. When Nikola's family leaves in search of a better life abroad, he is forced to take a job as a worker at a rubbish dump. Here he meets Silyan, a white stork abandoned by his family because of a broken wing. As Nikola cares for the injured bird and helps it recover, an unexpected friendship develops between man and animal. A bond that becomes so strong that Nikola decides to plough his land again to turn it into fertile soil.

In The Tale of Silyan, Nikola's life coincides remarkably with a 17th-century Macedonian folk tale about Silyan, a farmer's son who is cursed by his father and turned into a lonely stork. The result is a deeply moving, intimate documentary about the quiet power of connection, resilience and hope, in which director Tamara Kotevska also addresses themes such as climate change and economic migration. Kotevska, known for the Oscar-nominated Honeyland, once again amazes with The Tale of Silyan with her characteristic rich storytelling and enchanting, warm images. Her documentary had a successful premiere in Venice, receiving many rave reviews from the international press.

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