We spoke with Tamara Kotevska, the Oscar-nominated director of Honeyland, ahead of the release of her new film, The Tale of Silyan.
The Tale of Silyan sweeps us into the heart of rural Macedonia for a fable about a farmer, Nikola, and an injured white stork, Silyan. Poignant and visually arresting, this deeply moving film touches on climate change, economic migration and the quiet power of connection, as Nikola nurses Silyan back to health.
We spoke to Kotevska about her inspirations, human-animal connections and the elements of magic realism in her films.
At what point in the filmmaking process did the idea to frame the story as the folktale emerge?
The folktale of Silyan came last as an idea. When Nikola found the stork on the landfill and decided to keep him, I saw the long-known tale coming to life and I decided to use it in the film.
Your films often explore the human-animal connection. What draws you to this theme, and how has it evolved in your work?
Since I was young, I was spending a lot of time in nature with my family and surrounded by animals. I love animals. I have read a lot of literature that depicts social interactions through animal symbolism (Orwell, Aesop, ancient mythologies of different cultures) and I have watched a lot of nature documentaries where through animals you could learn so much about humans too. Somehow through life, I started seeing the world through these lenses and the fact that humans can’t run away from their animalistic nature.
How did you approach filming the storks compared with the people? Were there any significant differences or challenges?
There were plenty of challenges throughout the shooting of both species. With the storks we needed an insane amount of patience for distant observation. With the humans, a lot of communication and bonding was required, keeping the bonds and the trust.
This film continues the magic-realist elements you explored in Honeyland. How do you find balance between more dreamlike sequences and the scenes grounded in the farmers’ reality?
It’s my greatest challenge and craft to find this balance. It’s not an easy one, for sure. I spent an endless amount of time in editing and remembering the material so well that I can play with it. I spend long months of research on every topic of my films and find the similarities between these elements. I also get a lot of inspiration from other films and literature.
The Tale of Silyan is now showing at Bertha DocHouse. Book tickets here.