From the Oscar-nominated director of ‘Honeyland’ comes a poignant and visually arresting feature documentary set in the heart of rural Macedonia. Nikola, a farmer grappling with the harsh realities of new government policies, finds himself unable to sell his land or crops. When his family leaves in search of a better life abroad, Nikola takes a job as a landfill attendant, where he encounters the injured white stork Silyan. As he nurses the bird back to health, an unlikely bond forms between man and animal. The result is a deeply moving film that touches on climate change, economic migration, resilience and the quiet power of connection.
The Tale of Sylian
Directed by: Tamara Kotevska
Produced by: Tamara Kotevska, Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski
Country of origin: North Macedonia / USA
Year of production: 2025
Duration: 81 min
Category: Ecology
Tamara Kotevska
Tamara Kotevska is a filmmaker from Prilep, North Macedonia. She began her career in documentary filmmaking and co-directed the award-winning short documentary Lake of Apples (2016) with Ljubo Stefanov. She gained international recognition as the co-director of Honeyland, which won three awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and received two Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature—the first documentary in history to be nominated in both categories. Her second feature documentary, The Walk, premiered at DOC NYC 2023 and had its European premiere at CPH 2024. She is currently completing her debut fiction feature, Man vs. Flock, while developing a new documentary set in the Siberian tundra.
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