Kinoteka: The Silent Trees

Kinoteka & Hull Independent Cinema present:

THE SILENT TREES

Dir Agnieszka Zwiefka | Poland, Germany, Denmark | 2024 | 81 mins | Rating TBC | Dutch, French

A 16-year-old Kurdish refugee girl is stranded in an icy pine forest between Belarus and Europe with her family in a dirty political power play. She has only one choice: to grow up in an instant and save her family.

In 2021, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko opens a new migration route. By issuing tourist visas to refugees and promising them access to Europe through the forest, he encourages them to flee to Europe. In response, neighbouring Poland closes the European border and does not allow journalists or aid organisations into the area, even though the lack of food, water and medical care is acute. The refugees are trapped in an icy borderland with no way to enter the EU or return to Belarus. This is where ‘Silent Trees’ starts.

16-year-old Kurdish girl Runa and her family, fleeing ISIS, have made it to the icy, wild pine forest at the border. But everything changes overnight when her mum freezes to death. Runa must make a quantum leap from child to adult to care for her four younger brothers and her depressed father, and try to establish a new life in an increasingly nationalistic Poland. Just as her dream of returning to school comes true, the threat of repatriation looms. In her sketchbook, Runa vents her feelings and her drawings are brought to life in animated sequences.

KINOTEKA on TOUR is Part of the UK – Poland Season of Cultural Exchange organized by the British Council, Polish Cultural Institute and Adam Mickiewicz Institute in partnership with Klassiki.

Starring Runa Husni

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Krakow Film Festival: Winner, 3 awards inc Best Director of Feature-Length
Documentary Film; Nominee, 2 awards inc Polish National Competition
Cambridge Film Festival: Winner, Young People’s Jury Award
Giffoni Film Festival: Winner, Best Film

REVIEWS
“It’s a family drama first and foremost, embodied by a young girl coming of age and finding her place in a world intent on rejecting her very existence.” Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

“Zwiefka directs with a commanding, assured eye and lets all watching understand the inner turmoil of the documentary’s subject.” Bobby LePire, Film Threat

“…unusually touching as the audience can see what the family does as they choose to make the best of a bad situation without diminishing how difficult it is.” Stephen Saito, Moveable Fest

“…reveals itself as an accomplished documentary.” Olivia Popp, Modern Times Review