"Our fight for the environment is not just about trees. We are defending our culture, our identity, our lives." In his home country Liberia, environmental activist Silas Siakor tirelessly researches the schemes and deals of international companies and the government. Land theft and corruption can only be prevented if the political elites are also held accountable by the population at large. Silas and his team are using new technologies to achieve this: with the Timby smartphone app, anyone can document human rights violations and make them public worldwide. For more than five years, the filmmakers have been documenting a fight between David and Goliath.

Hawa Essuman is a graduate of Tom Tykwer's One Fine Day Films training programme in Nairobi. In 2010 she completed her first long feature film Soul Boy (2010), which was screened at over forty film festivals worldwide and won several awards. Silas (2017) is her documentary debut.