16.04. ‐ 21.04.2024
Schweigend steht der Wald_Webseite

Schweigend steht der Wald

Saralisa Volm

Not quite by coincidence, the talented forestry intern Anja ends up in the Upper Palatinate Forest, the place where her father disappeared without a trace 20 years ago in unexplained circumstances. The ghosts of the past still torture her to this day with their many unanswered questions. Immediately after her arrival, a gruesome murder happens in the nearby village. Anja suspects a connection between this crime and her father’s disappearance and begins an investigation into her family’s past. But her curiosity is met with suspicion and hostility from the closed-off villagers. When she discovers an anomaly in the soil while collecting soil samples, which is indicative of an unusually deep excavation, the well-kept history of the village starts to unravel.

Based on Wolfram Fleischhauer’s book by the same name, The Silent Forest is a dark Bavaria noir thriller which captures the unique natural beauty of the forest and captivates with its mystical atmosphere.

More information Lichter FilmfestLichter Filmfest

Direction Saralisa Volm
Country Germany
Year 2022
Duration 95 min
Language Original language
Production Saralisa Volm, Ingo Fliess
Co-production if Productions, Bayerischer Rundfunk, arte, Hessischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk
Cast Henriette Confurius, Robert Stadlober, Noah Saavedra, August Zirner, Johanna Bittenbinde
Camera Roland Stuprich
Script Wolfram Fleischhauer
Sound Marc Parisotto
Sound Design Niklas Kammertöns


Berlinale 2022 - Section Perspektive Deutsches Kino

Awards

Additionally to the traditional honouring of directors and producers, the Berlinale section Perspektive Deutsches Kino also awards special talents in other professions. In 2022, the editor of The Silent Forest, Daniel Kundrat, was chosen for the “Perspektive Talent” award. The Hessischer Rundfunk (Hessian Broadcasting) was involved as a coproducer.

Press Reviews

„With dramaturgical skill and visual finesse, director Volm connects more and more puzzle pieces to reveal the big picture. The end result is a painting of dread. An abyss of German reality which was repressed for a long time.“ (programmkino.de)

„The movie expresses especially well how the truth is always within reach and yet never spoken about.“ (moviepilot)

„In her directing debut The Silent Forest, Saralisa Volm stages the dense atmosphere of a lurking, breathing forest and tells of the exposing research of a young woman who counters her parents’ and grandparents’ overwhelming silence with her search for the truth.“ (Kino-Zeit)



Hessian premiere

(In presence of the director)

Future German Cinema

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