City Cinema: Silent Friend

Drama. PG, mature themes.
Dir: Ildikó Enyedi, Germany, 2026, 147 min.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Léa Seydoux, Luna Wedler, Enzo Brumm.
In German, English and Cantonese with English subtitles.
Winner of 13 Film Festival Awards.

“If we can communicate with our animals, why not also with our plants? This visually stunning triptych is a cumulatively profound glimpse into the relationship between humans and nature. It toggles between three chronologically diverse stories set in the same German university garden — following a contemporary Hong Kong scientist, a late 1800s student, and another from the 1970s — each befriending a resilient Gingko biloba.” —Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue 

“It runs 147 minutes, and every single one of them is absolutely compelling… It consistently offers a feast for the eyes… Dramatically, it is equally strong as Enyedi takes the three storylines… and weaves them together in a way that allows each to inform the other and explore the central idea of mankind’s ongoing relationship with nature… Silent Friend is a true original, one of those cinematic events that, once seen, will not be easily forgotten.” 

—Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com