Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska’s The Tale of Silyan won Best Cinema Documentary at the Grierson British Documentary Awards in London on November 10. The film follows a farmer in rural Macedonia who finds an injured white stork at a landfill and nurses it back to health.
The win came at the 54th edition of the Grierson Awards, which recognize documentary filmmaking across cinema, television and digital media. The ceremony also honored Anna Godas, CEO and co-founder of documentary distributor Dogwoof, with the BBC Grierson Trustees’ Award for her work securing financial backing for documentaries. Dogwoof handled international distribution for Kotevska’s film.
A Macedonian Folktale and a Family Divided by Migration
At the center of the film is Nikola Conev, a farmer who struggles to sell his land and crops. When his family leaves to seek better opportunities abroad, Nikola stays behind and takes a job at a landfill. There he finds the wounded stork, which he names Silyan.
Kotevska drew on Macedonian folktales about white storks that she heard as a child. The bond between Nikola and the bird gives the film an intimate way to explore economic migration, rural livelihoods and environmental change. The film is in Macedonian and runs 80 minutes.
Kotevska directed the documentary and produced it alongside Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi and Jordan Petkovski. Dakar also served as cinematographer. Ciconia Film, Concordia Studio and The Corner Shop made the film for National Geographic Documentary Films.
From Venice and Chicago to the Grierson Awards
The Tale of Silyan premiered out of competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Cinema & Arts Award. It went on to receive the Silver Hugo for Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival. The International Documentary Association also recognized the film with awards for Best Feature Documentary and Best Cinematography.
The London win followed another British award in October. At the Wildscreen Panda Awards in Bath, Kotevska won the Producer/Director award for The Tale of Silyan. The two honors recognized different aspects of the project. Wildscreen credited Kotevska’s work as a producer and director, while the Griersons recognized the film in the cinema documentary category.
The documentary also reached audiences in North America through theatrical screenings in cities including Vancouver, Santa Monica and Cleveland. It adds to the international recognition Kotevska received for Honeyland, which she co-directed with Ljubomir Stefanov. At the 2020 Academy Awards, Honeyland earned nominations in both the Documentary Feature and International Feature Film categories.
