National Geographic Documentary Films Acquires Venice Film Festival Award-Winner “The Tale of Silyan”

Fresh off premiering at Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival and being selected to represent North Macedonia in International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards®, National Geographic Documentary Films today announced it has acquired worldwide rights to “The Tale of Silyan” from the Oscar®-nominated director of “Honeyland,” Tamara Kotevska, in collaboration with Concordia Studio, The Corner Shop and Ciconia Film.

Winner of the “Best Film” Cinema and Arts Award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, “The Tale of Silyan” is a poignant and visually arresting story set in the heart of rural North 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. Woven through their journey is a rich North Macedonian folktale, infusing the film with a lyrical, mythical quality. The result is a deeply moving film that touches on climate change, economic migration, resilience, and the quiet power of connection.

Critics describe the film as “achingly beautiful” (Indiewire, “The 15 Best New Films That Premiered at the Fall Festivals”); “An absolute charmer… With masterly widescreen cinematography… seamless editing… and an evocative and multitextured score” (The Hollywood Reporter, “Best of the Fall Fests: THR’s Critics Picks”); “Exquisite… [an] idiosyncratic documentary gem… [a] gorgeous film” (Screen International); and “A beautifully mounted documentary-fable… An astute blend of environmental messaging and magical realism, all tightly structured and crafted” (Business Doc Europe).

Toronto International Film Festival documentary programmer Thom Powers describes it as “whimsical and breathtaking… As a documentary maker, Kotevska is working in her own register, deploying poetry instead of didacticism. There are visual moments so striking, they could be framed as photographs in a museum.”

National Geographic Documentary Films will roll out “The Tale of Silyan” at festivals around the world before releasing it in theaters ahead of its global streaming debut on Disney+.

“‘The Tale of Silyan‘ offers an irresistible blend of poetic storytelling, visual splendor, and emotional urgency. It is also a testament to the healing power of the natural world as seen through the unlikely friendship between a Macedonian farmer and a white stork. We are big admirers of Tamara’s double Oscar®-nominated documentary ‘Honeyland’ and are so happy to be working with this uniquely talented and empathic filmmaker on her beautiful new film,” said Carolyn Bernstein, EVP of Documentary Films at National Geographic.

“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,” said Kotevska. “I have devoted my life as a filmmaker to two topics: migration and nature conservation. This film marries the two, as modern macroeconomics leads 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.”

Kotevska and Jean Dakar (who doubles as cinematographer) produce for Ciconia Film, alongside The Corner Shop‘s Anna Hashmi, as well as 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.

The deal was negotiated by UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.

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	The Tale of Silyan
	Release: 2025-09-22Genre: DocumentaryDuration: 80 minsBudget: $ 0
	Overview Inspired by the folktale of the boy Siljan, who, after a quarrel with his father, turns into a stork and leaves home, the film is a story about the relationship between a farmer and a white stork.

The Tale of Silyan, Documentary