“SILENT TREES” TRIUMPHS AT SLAMDANCE!
The documentary by Agnieszka Zwiefka has captivated the Breakout competition jury, securing the main prize for best film in the section.
The Slamdance Film Festival is as one of the world's premier independent film showcases. Established in 1995 in Park City, Utah, the festival emerged when a collective of subversive filmmakers, whose works had been rejected from the Sundance programme, decided to forge their own path. Feeling compelled to exhibit their artistic visions, they created their own festival under the motto “by filmmakers, for filmmakers”.
Following the tragic death of her mother at the Poland-Belarus border, 16-year-old Kurdish girl Runa has to quickly grow up and take care of her four younger brothers and her depressed, helpless father. During their stay in a refugee camp, the family grapples with trauma, an uncertain future, and the threat of deportation. Runa escapes from daily problems into her sketchbook, which she fills with increasingly disturbing drawings. Silent Trees is partially animated coming-of-age story is set against the backdrop of the global refugee crisis.
The program of this year's edition of Slamdance can be found here.