“Green Border” / dir. Agnieszka Holland / feature film / 2023 / 147 min. / Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Poland
One of the most important and widely discussed films in Polish media in recent years, Agnieszka Holland’s “The Green Border” takes us to the Polish-Belarusian border and the humanitarian crisis occurring there. The film, which was awarded at the Venice Film Festival, was condemned by the Polish authorities as a “disgusting pamphlet.” Prior to screenings, a special government video critical of the film was even suggested. As the esteemed director stated in an interview: “We wanted to show the complexity of this situation, the complexity of human nature and the choices we face. We aimed for the film to contain not a single gram of propaganda. (…) I wanted the film to have maximum credibility. For everything shown on screen, I have the papers.”
What has been happening (and is still happening) on the Polish-Belarusian border remained a great unknown for a long time. National media, through xenophobic narratives, isolated many Poles from the reality of the refugee drama. A state of emergency was declared on the border, and journalists, filmmakers, medics, activists, and representatives of humanitarian organizations were expelled from the so-called “red zone” (“forbidden zone”). As a result, the residents of Podlasie began to question whether providing a bottle of water to a refugee met by chance in the forest was a crime or even an act of anti-patriotism.
Holland approaches this “apocalypse of everyday life,” an existential limbo primarily endured by refugees from Syria or Afghanistan, in an almost documentary manner. Through black-and-white images, the Polish director portrays a world where painful absurdity and the binary nature of the situation (good/evil, compassion/hostility, life/death) are far from any shades of gray. In “The Green Border,” we encounter a triple narrative: the almost absent perspective of refugees being moved from place to place (1), the perspective of activists risking their own health (2), and the observation of a border guard (3). The director takes us on a difficult, sometimes very harsh journey but does not forget about light and hope (based on the principle that perhaps belief in a better tomorrow is the boldest statement in today’s media ecosystem). Through her latest film, Holland reminds us that socially and politically engaged cinema can serve as a valuable tool for dissecting fragments of a reality tainted by violence and indifference. Films like “The Green Border” become a path to mindfulness, empathy, and stimulating the mind. After all, everyone—regardless of origin, age, gender, or faith—deserves a dignified life.
Plot Summary:
After moving to Podlasie, psychologist Julia (Maja Ostaszewska) becomes an unwilling witness and participant in the dramatic events on the Polish-Belarusian border. Aware of the risks and legal consequences, she joins a group of activists helping refugees who are camping in the forests within the state of emergency zone. At the same time, a Syrian family fleeing civil war and their accompanying Afghan teacher, unaware that they are pawns in a political deception by Belarusian authorities, attempt to cross into the European Union. In Poland, their fate will intertwine with Julia’s and a young border guard, Jan (Tomasz Włosok). The unfolding events will force all of them to re-examine the question: what does it mean to be human?
