‘Silent Friend’: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai to feature in Hungarian filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi's film

‘Silent Friend’ is set in the botanical garden of Marburg, Germany, and tells three stories connected to a tree over a period of more than 100 years

Tony Leung | Photo Credit: AP

Hong Kong star Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is set to star in Silent Friend, an upcoming film from Hungarian director Ildiko Enyedi.

The movie is Enyedi’s follow-up to the 2021 film The Story of My Wife which competed at Cannes, and On Body and Soul, the 2017 feature that was nominated for an Oscar.

Silent Friend is set in the botanical garden of Marburg, a medieval university town in Germany, and tells three stories connected to a tree over a period of more than 100 years, according to Variety.

Penned by Enyedi, the film sheds light on the volatile nature of so-called reality, showing the radical shifts in human perception of plants, animals and humans.

Leung, the star of internationally acclaimed films such as In The Mood For Love, 2046, Happy Together and Chungking Express, will feature as the main lead in the film's third segment.

The actor will essay the role of a renowned neuroscientist travelling from his hometown of Hong Kong to the Marburg Faculty.

“The whole storyline of his episode is defined by those personal sensibilities I could only guess behind the brilliant actor. I was absolutely humbled that from the first read of the script he became such a  great partner in the thinking not just about his role but about  the whole project,” Enyedi said.

Silent Friend is being produced by the German banner Pandora Film along with co-producers -- Monika Mecs of Inform M and M, Nicolas Elghozi at Galatee Films and Meng Xie at Rediance. The film will start shooting across multiple seasons starting in April 2024.