SILENT FRIEND / MY TWENTIETH CENTURY

ABOUT THE FILMS:

SILENT FRIEND, 2025, Dir. Ildikó Enyedi, 147 Mins, 1-2 Special, Germany/France/Hungary

In German, English and Cantonese with English subtitles.

At the heart of an old German university grows a majestic ginkgo tree, its lifespan measured in centuries. As the years pass, the distinguished plant bears witness to the private lives of those who seek shade under its boundless branches. In 2020, a visiting neuroscientist conducts a series of experiments into the possibilities of botanical consciousness. In 1972, a young student is profoundly changed by studying the behavior of a simple geranium. And in 1908, the university’s first female student’s photographic inquiries reveal sacred patterns of the universe hidden within the humblest of plants. Three lonely souls, three outsiders. Over time, each is transformed by the quiet, enduring and mysterious power of nature. From Ildikó Enyedi, the director of Academy Award-nominated ON BODY AND SOUL, comes SILENT FRIEND, an epic, awe-inspiring exploration of the natural world. Featuring an ensemble cast that includes Tony Leung, Léa Seydoux and Venice Prize-winning newcomer Luna Wedler, Enyedi crafts a funny, tender meditation on the essential question of what it means to be human

FORMAT: DCP

MY TWENTIETH CENTURY, 1989, Dir. Ildikó Enyedi, 104 Mins, Kino Lorber, Hungary

In Hungarian with English subtitles.

Ildikó Enyedi’s fairytale-like, unconventional ironic film luminaire was awarded the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 1989. On the eve of the 20th century, two twin girls, Lili the anarchist and Dóra a luxurious woman of loose morals, along with Mr. Z. who loves them as an entity, all reach the Hungarian border at the same time on board the Orient Express. Their story, rushing under the spell of Edison’s inventions, is a special ‘research of happiness,’ reclaiming the ‘mass murdering century’ from the restlessly changing world and the miracle of existence. Tarkovsky’s fabulous actor, Oleg Yankovsky, performs an unforgettable double with the young Polish actress Dorotha Segda.

FORMAT: DCP