SILENT TREES / DRZEWA MILCZĄ /НІМІ ДЕРЕВА

Leonid Nefedovich
Sep 25
1 min read

2024 / 84' / documentary / Poland, Germany, Denmark

When her mother dies in the forest on the Polish-Belarusian border, a 16-year-old Kurdish girl Runa has to quickly grow up to take care of her 4 younger brothers and helpless, depressed father. The family deals with trauma in a refugee camp and tries to establish a new life in Poland. Runa's greatest fear is being forced to return to Iraq, where Kurds face the threat of ISIS. She wants to live like her newfound European friends and become a lawyer. But just as her dream of going back to school comes true, another threat appears – the threat of deportation. Runa’s escape from everyday problems is a sketchbook filled with drawings that express what she feels. Gradually, her drawings come to life. The film is a partially animated coming of age story in the times of the global refugee crisis.

Screenings schedule:

September 27, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. at the Zhovten Cinema, Anshlah Hall

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DIRECTOR - AGNIESZKA ZWIEFKA

Biography

Agnieszka Zwiefka is an award-winning filmmaker. Her films “The Queen of Silence” (2014) and “Scars” (2020) were screened at festivals worldwide. In her films, she balances between reality and fantasy, creating hybrids that cross the border between documentary and fiction. Member of European Film Academy (EFA). Alumna of workshops, Dok.Incubator, ScripTeast, Nipkow Programme and Berlinale Talents as well as Meryl Streep’s and Nicole Kidman’s The Writers Lab.

Selected filmography