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63% Critic Match
The Silence of the Forest
6.3 / 10• 2003• 1h 33m•NR• French
DramaAdventure
Storyline
A film about the difficulty for even the most well-intentioned person to know and respect another culture. In this case, the problem is so acute that there is even heated debate over what to call that 'other.' The subtitles in the film use the familiar word 'pygmies,' a relatively pejorative European term; the Bantu or villagers' expression for the same group, Babingas, carries similar negative connotations. These highly specialized, tropical rainforest hunter-gatherers should perhaps be called by their own ethnonym, Aka, MoAka (sing.) and BaAka (pl.)
Cast & Crew
Ériq Ebouaney
Gonaba
Lead
Nadège Beausson-Diagne
Simone
SZ
Sonia Zembourou
Kali
Philippe Mory
The Prefect
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Didier Ouénangaré's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. The Silence of the Forest is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
