Stork-Focused Documentary “The Tale of Silyan” Acquired by National Geographic
The story of the bond between a man and a stork recently won an award at the Venice Film Festival.
National Geographic Documentary Films has picked up the acclaimed documentary The Tale of Silyan for a theatrical and eventual Disney+ release.
What’s Happening:
- National Geographic Documentary Films has acquired worldwide rights to The Tale of Silyan from Oscar-nominated director Tamara Kotevska (Honeyland), in collaboration with Concordia Studio, The Corner Shop and Ciconia Film.
- The documentary was shown in recent weeks at both the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival and has been selected to represent North Macedonia in International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
- Currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes from its first 14 RT-approved reviews, The Tale of Silyan won the Cinema and Arts Award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival last month.
- Set in the heart of rural North Macedonia, The Tale of Silyan focuses on 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. Woven through their journey is a North Macedonian folktale.
- National Geographic Documentary Films will continue to roll out The Tale of Silyan at additional film festivals around the world before releasing it in theaters ahead of its global streaming debut on Disney+.
- Kotevska and Jean Dakar (who doubles as cinematographer) produce for Ciconia Film, alongside The Corner Shop’s Anna Hashmi, and Jordanco Petkovski. The film is executive produced by Concordia Studio’s Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), Laurene Powell Jobs, Casey Meurer and Lizzie Fox. Martin Ivanov is editor, and Joe Wilson Davies and HunOuk Park composed the music.
What They’re Saying:
- Tamara Kotevska: “The white stork is a mythical creature in my home country of North Macedonia, so I’m thrilled to partner with National Geographic Documentary Films to be able to share an ancient tale from my childhood about these majestic birds with audiences at festivals, in cinemas and at home. I have devoted my life as a filmmaker to two topics: migration and nature conservation. This film marries the two, as modern macro economics lead people to abandon fertile lands in search of work in urban cities, depleting the white storks’ natural food supply as farms become landfills. It is a stark warning about the direction we are heading."
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