FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film in Competition - Venice Film Festival 2025
In the heart of a botanical garden in a medieval university town in Germany stands a majestic ginkgo tree. This silent witness has observed over a century the quiet rhythms of transformation across three human lives. 2020, a neuroscientist from Hong Kong, exploring the mind of babies, begins an unexpected experiment with the old tree. 1972, a young student is profoundly changed by the simple act of observing and connecting with a geranium. 1908, the university’s first female student discovers, through the lens of photography, sacred patterns of the universe hidden within the humblest of plants. We follow their clumsy, awkward attempts to connect — each one of them deeply rooted in their own present — as they are transformed by the quiet, enduring, and mysterious power of nature. The ancient ginkgo tree brings us closer to what it means to be human — to our longing to belong.
Ildiko Enyedi, award-winning and Oscarnominated director, started her career as aconcept and media artist. Her first featurefilm, My XX. Centurywon the Golden Camerafor best debut in Cannes, Magic Huntercompeted in Venice, followed by Tamas andJuli(Venice special screening) and Simonthe Magician(Locarno, special prize). Aftera long absence, while she made shorts andworked with HBO, she returned to featurefilms with On Body and Soul(Berlinale,Golden Bear 2017 / Oscar Nomination) andThe Story of My Wife(Cannes Competition2021). Among others, she served on the mainjury in Berlin (1990, 2021) and Venice (2018)and was jury president of shorts in Cannes(2024). Ildiko Enyedi is a member of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesand the European Film Academy.
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