Green Border
What does it mean to be a refugee? What happens to you when you seek a good refuge elsewhere? Polish director Agnieszka Holland shows it in this gripping drama shot in black-and-white, which has now won her numerous film awards, including the Audience Award at the last IFFR.
In October 2021, a group of refugees land at the airport of the Belarusian capital Minsk, including teacher Leïla from Afghanistan and a Syrian family, who are on their way to the EU. A smuggler takes them to the border with Poland, which they indeed manage to cross. But not for long: Polish customs send them back to Belarus without pardon. These refugees turn out to be pawns in a geopolitical chess game, in which the Belarusian dictator Lukashenko uses them to undermine stability in the EU. And so they are tossed back and forth between two countries, increasingly exposed to terrible hardships. Not everyone looks on idly.
