Silenced Tree
Hayati is a small-town literature teacher and a one hit wonder author who tries helplessly to hold on to his past: his shattering marriage, his sick old mother, a decaying walnut tree and the memory of his father. Instead of moving on with his life and taking control, he passively accepts its blows and is only interested in digging into the past, until his discovery forces him to confront his own weakness and answer the question: is standing idle while witnessing evil being done is just as much of a sin as doing it?
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faysal soysalDirectorcrossroads
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faysal soysalWritercrossroads
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faysal soysalProducercrossroads, missing times, building of hopes/Release from Heaven, Unbendable, color of love
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ali Noori OskoueiProducerRelease from Heaven
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serdar orçinKey Cast"hayati"yazgı, barda, itirazım var
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sezin akbaşoğullarıKey Cast"Yaprak"fakat müzeyyen, kavşak, yabancı
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kübra kipKey Cast"serap"babamın kanatları, bağlılık aslı
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ali mert yavuzcanKey Cast"ahmet"
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vedat özdemirdirector of Photographysen aydınlatırsın geceyi, itirazım var, Cingoz Recai, Rauf,
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Mostafa Khergepousheditorturtles can fly, peach tree, leila
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Mohsen Roshansound designerin the name of father, peddler, red ribbon, actor
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Payam AzadimusicAll the winter I haven't seen, Age of Pehlevans
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Project Title (Original Language):ceviz ağacı
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:Drama, Human rights, women, art, poetry, writer, social
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Runtime:1 hour 57 minutes 53 seconds
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Completion Date:July 23, 2020
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Production Budget:800,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Turkey
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Country of Filming:Turkey
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Language:Turkish
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Shooting Format:digital 4K
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Aspect Ratio:2.35
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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39th International Istanbul Film Festivalistanbul
Turkey
July 21, 2020
National Premier -
27th International Adana Film FestivalAdana
Turkey
September 14, 2020
Best Actor, Best Composing -
42nd International Moscow Film FestivalMoscow
Russian Federation
October 5, 2020
International Premier
Russian Trace Official Selection -
6th Bremen Film FestivalBremen
Germany
April 14, 2021
European Premiere
Best Literature Film award -
8th Torino Underground Film FestivalTorino
Italy
September 5, 2021
Italian
Best Film, Best Editing -
Eurosia Film FestivalMoscow
Russian Federation
November 15, 2020
Best Camera -
25th Turkey-Germany Nunberg Film Film FestivalBremen
Germany
July 25, 2021 -
13th Pri-Fest Film FestivalPristina
Kosovo
August 27, 2021 -
7th Balkan Panorama Film FestivalIzmir
Turkey
October 2, 2021
Best Film, Best Actor -
London City Film Awards FestivalLondon
United Kingdom
November 9, 2021
Best Foreign Future film -
The Artists Forum/ Festival of Moving ImageNew York
United States
December 3, 2021
US Premier
Best Narrative Feature Film, Best Actor -
9th Antakya Film FestivalAntakya
Turkey
December 16, 2021
Best Actor -
5th Nepal Film Festivalkatmandu
Nepal
April 1, 2022
Asian
Don Quixote Best feature Film Award -
9th Fine Arts Film FestivalCalifornia Venice
United States
June 10, 2022
Best Director, Best Film -
2nd Neptune Film Awards FestivalBologna
Italy
June 18, 2022
Best Film and Best Music -
14.Hamilton New York Film FestivalNew York City
United States
July 30, 2022
Best Feature Film -
8&Halfilm festivalrome
Italy
August 20, 2022
Best Human Rights Film -
4th Munich Film AwardsMunich
Germany
August 22, 2022
Best Feature Film -
San Diego Movie AwardsSan Diego
United States
September 7, 2022
Best Film -
6th Brazil Film FesivalRio
Brazil
November 7, 2022
Best Film -
Spain Film ConnectPalma De Mallorca
Spain
May 23, 2023
Best International Film -
Brittany Film FestivalLocronan, Bretagne
France
July 24, 2023
France
Best International Script -
Dubai International Cine Carnivaldubai
United Arab Emirates
September 5, 2023
Critics' choice award
Distribution Information
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arthood entertainmentDistributorCountry: GermanyRights: All Rights, Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Hotel, Airline, Ship, Theatrical, Video / Disc, Free TV, Paid TV, Console / Handheld Device
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farabi cinema foundationDistributorCountry: Iran, Islamic Republic ofCountry: Iran, Islamic Republic ofRights: All Rights
Faysal Soysal was born in Batman in 1979. He left medical school to focus on poetry and cinema in 2000. Between 2003 and 2007, he finished MA on “Film Directing” in Tehran Art University-Iran and at the same time “New Turkish Literature” at Van Yuzuncuyil University-Turkey. He did 4 short films in Iran, which were awarded at international film festivals. With ‘Dreams of Lost Time’(35mm), he’s become closer to find his own cinematographic language.
In 2008, with a scholarship, he attended to the New York Film Academy and directed 4 short films. He has been selected for Talent Campus of Sarajevo Film Festival at 2009. He did his first feature film ‘Crossroads’ in 2013, (Filmed in Turkey and Bosnia) and it got 13 awards from film festivals. He did documentary series for Al Jazire and TRT TV. He used to be voluntary of Doctors Worldwide and produced Africa documentaries about their aid. They have been screened on TRT Documentary Channel in the name Worldwide Stories as 11 episodes. He published books on poetry and cinema. He is the director of International Amity Short Film Festival since two years. He finished his second feature film Silenced Tree as a first co-production of Turkish-Iranian at 2020.
FILMOGRAPHY
Feature Film
Silenced Tree, 2020
Crossroads, 2013
Building of Hope, 2016 Tv-film, Generel Director
Documentary
Firstly, Songs has been Changed in Istanbul, 2014
Missing Times in Srebrenica-Prijedor, 2015
Worldwide Stories 11 episode, 2014-2015
Mother of Srebrenica 5 episode, 2015
Journey to East-Iranian Kurdish Cultural Life, 26 episode
Short Film
Forbidden Dream, 2005
Ithaki, 2005
The Day I Became My Mother, 2006
Dreams of Lost Time, 2007
Mizan-sen, 2008
What Time It Is ?, 2008
Music Video
İstanbul 2008
İthaca 2008
AWARDS
Silenced Tree (2020)
27th Adana Film Festival, Turkey (September 2020)
Best Music Award, Best Actor Award
Eurosia Film Festival, Russia (November 2020)
Best Camera Award
6th Bremen Film Festival, Germany (April 2021)
Best Literature Film Award
Torino Underground Cinefest, Italy (September 2021)
Best Film Award, Best Editing Award
7. Balkan Panorama Film Festival, Turkey (October 2021)
Best Film Award, Best Actor Award
6th London City Film Awards (12th November 2021)
Best Foreign Feature Film Award
6th The Artist Forum, The Festival Moving Images, New York (December 2021),
Best Narrative Feature Film Award, Best Actor Award
9th Antakya Film Festival, Turkey (16th December 2021)
Best Actor Award
5th International Nepal Film Festival-2022
Don Quixote Best feature Film Award
9th Fine Arts Film Festival, California-Venice-2022
Best Director
Best Narrative Film
2nd Neptune Film Awards of Bologna, (18th June-Italy, 2022)
Best Film, Best Music Score
14th Hamilton New York Film Festival (18th July-US 2022)
Best Film
8 & Halfilm Awards (20th August, Rome 2022)
Best Human Rights Film
4th Munich Film Awards (22th August, Germany 2022)
Best Film
8.San Diego Film Awards (7th September, US, 2022)
Best Film
6.Brazil International Film Festival (5th November, Brazil, 2022)
Best Film
Spain Film Connect (23th April, 2023),
Best International Film
Brittany International Film Festival (25th July, 2023),
Best International Script
Dubai International Cine Carnival (5th September, 2023),
Critics’ Choice Award
‘Crossroads’
Best Screenplay at 32.Tehran International Fajr Film Festival, 2014
Best Turkish film of 2013 by Eskader Art Critics
Best New Talented Director 25.Ankara Film Festival, 2014
Special Juri Prize, 10.Kazan International Film Festival, 2014
Best Actor, 6.Prifest Kosova International Film Festival, 2014
Best Art Directing, Best DOP, Best Actor, Best Actress, 4th Van Lake Film Festival (Turkey)
Best Film from 9th El Ojo Kojo Film Festival (Spain)
Best Script Xi An Silk Road Film Festival (China)
Best Film Overlook Film Festival (Italy)
“The Dreams of Lost Time”
Best Short Film - Boston Turkish Film Festival, 2008
Best Cinematography and Best film - Marmara University Film Festival, 2007
Honorary Award - Tehran International Short Film Festival, 2007
Best Short Film - Istanbul International Film Festival, 2007
“The Day I Became My Mother”
Special Media Prize - Baku Audio Visual Film Festival, Azerbaijan, 2006
“Forbidden Dream”
Second Short Prize - Kristal Klaket Film Festival, 2007
Best Script and Best Cinematography - Kisa Cek Short Film Festival, 2006
Best Film - Human Rights Short Film Festival in Istanbul, 2005
Best Film from Qazvin (Iran) Short Film Festival, 2005
His Books:
Düşe Yağmalanan Hayal Kuyusu, poetry, 2003
Bir Ölünün Defteri, poetry, 2011
Akdenizdeki Çöl, Sohrab Sepeheri & F.G. Lorca, translated poems, 2011
The re-found Hope, A. Tarkovsky’s Cinema, Babak Ahmadi, Translation, 2011
When I was on my way to find and establish the language of my cinema, being forced to watch all the injustices and murders of our century played a big role in choosing story of ‘Silenced Tree’ for my second film. Even though recently the media’s attention to the increasing number of killings of women (in 2019, 474 women were killed by violence in Turkey) intensified in recent years, I noticed that there is not a sincere and worthy study, mentioning these tragedies. The most tragic issue was the fact that this savagery was still happening in a society that emphasizes morality and justice a lot. I want to look at a woman’s murder as a side-story from a different perspective and to bring in different dimensions.
With this film, I want to find the dying down fire of our conscience by confronting us, namely humanity, with our dark and cowardly traits and blaze the fire with optimism. For this reason, I want to penetrate the cost of witnessing a murder and suicide over a minimal event within different perspective. In my story, I want to discuss in detail the obscure literary teacher Hayati’s being a specter to a murder (slaughter of a woman by his husband) outside the town and not do anything against it as a problem of the entire humanity’s consciousness issue. I designed Hayati as a writer, who tries to protect his hope in the name of artistic creation in distress and deprivation like Van Gogh, so that we can think more broadly about what a pathetic and impotent individual can do and can not do in the face of crime and murder. In this case, when a person is looking for a strong root and hope through writing and literature, despite starting to live with his father’s fate of suicide, what this person, disabled with feebleness, cynicism, and skittishness, will do when he witnesses a murder that his father witnessed. This question has always been a question I have encountered with different shades of environment that I lived in. In my film, Hayati, the most weak and helpless person among those who have power and potential, sacrifices him and undertakes the murder committed in order to clean the common conscience of mankind. Because he knows like we know that the killings of woman will not end with the capture of the killer. However, waking up the conscience of the society and pulling under great responsibility is a big step forward for the future generations not to crush the weaker ones.