Silent Friend

1908, a German university campus. Grete is the first female doctoral student, and encounters a lot of resistance from the conservative professors. 64 years later, the nonchalant student Hannes falls in love with a botany student. During the corona lockdown of 2020, neuroscientist Tony from Hong Kong gets stuck in the deserted university residences, left to himself and the nature around him. The only constant throughout this century of history? A gigantic ginkgo tree, in the middle of the campus botanical garden. For more than a hundred years, this silent witness has observed the different people who come and go. Commentaar Een imposing 'triptych' of thematically connected stories, tied together by the Ginkgo tree as a central character: Silent Friend can be called a special cinematic experience, to say the least, where the slow-burn tempo and the poetic images completely draw you into three different time periods. The circumstances may change, but the things the characters struggle with remain the same. Connection, loneliness, bonding. Not only the people, but also the imposing tree. It will be difficult to find a quieter, more slowly enchanting film experience this year than this one.