Daria, a writer, returns to her hometown of Mardin, Turkey, with her deaf daughter. She begins her new novel in a forest house; memories of twin girls from her childhood resurface. The surrounding land is ravaged by deforestation, with only two trees standing as if commemorating the twins. Dalia begins to lose the distinction between reality, memory, and fantasy... Bahman Ghobadi, known for socially conscious work, steps into the world of genre cinema with Trees Are Watching, incorporating witch legends and other horror elements, while conveying a message about the destruction of nature caused by excessive development.
Bahman Ghobadi was born on September 2, 1968 in Baneh, a city near the Iran-Iraq border in the province of Kurdistan, Iran. A breakthrough came with Life in a Fog (1998), one of the most acclaimed shorts ever made in Iran. In the wake of being awarded several different International Awards, Ghobadi attracted international attention and established himself as a pioneer of Kurdish cinema.
From Tokyo International Film Festival 2026, No. 39
