In her previous documentaries, Tamara Kotevska has examined changing times and dying traditions (the vérité Honeyland , which she directed with Ljubomir Stefanov) and interwoven fairy-tale whimsy with political urgency ( The Walk , a plea for compassion for the world’s refugees). She manages to incorporate elements of all of the above in her third feature, and she does so with admirable concision. An absolute charmer, The Tale of Silyan is an affecting look at the human-avian bond, with all its mysteries, warmth and ungainly practicalities.

Part nature film, part parable, part ground-level snapshot of downward-spiraling economies, Kotevska’s documentary is set in the village of Češinovo, where farmers, whose numbers have been dwindling, coexist with the largest white stork popul

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