“Silent Trees” / dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka / documentary / 2024 / 84 min. / Poland

The crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border has been ongoing since 2021, when totalitarian leader Alexander Lukashenko opened a new migration route facilitating the arrival of thousands of refugees to the European Union. The Polish government responded by creating a closed zone around the border. Humanitarian aid is severely restricted, and people stranded in the forest are starving and dying from exhaustion and cold.

The mother of teenage Runa was one of those who perished from hypothermia. The Kurdish girl, along with her father and younger brothers, ends up in a refugee camp, where, contrary to what they hear from the media and television reports, the family is met with kindness and tremendous support from the camp staff. However, this solution is temporary, and they still face the threat of deportation. The recent border experiences are not easily forgotten.

In “Drzewa milczą,” Runa undergoes a rapid coming-of-age process and learns a new language. She has to care for her four siblings, support her disoriented father in finding work in a new reality, and think about her own future and well-being. Exhausted and overwhelmed by helplessness, one way Runa copes with her difficult emotions is by creating drawings in a sketchbook, which come to life on screen thanks to the work of animators.

Agnieszka Zwiefka, by focusing on teenage Runa, does not just recount the border conflict but creates a universal story of growing up in the shadow of the global refugee crisis. It encompasses all its uncertainties, traumas, skills of rapid adaptation to new conditions and roles, and the same idols as those of her peers in the dreamed-of West.