“Green Borders” is now showing in cinemas. What is Agnieszka Holland’s film about?

In another “chapter”, the Netherlands looks at the activities of the border guards. Belarusian officers who sell a bottle of water to exhausted people for 50 euros and insult them. The Polish guards carry out their tasks without the slightest sympathy, even for the exhausted children. But the hero of this chapter is a young border guard who lets a car pass, pretending not to notice the young fugitives inside. And then, at the crossing with Ukraine, in response to the comment about the Belarusian border, he will say:

“I have never been there”. As if he wanted to delete this chapter from his life.

“Green Borders”: Two Frontiers in Agnieszka Holland’s film

In Holland’s film, there are those who try to save the lives of refugees, bringing them water, food, and warm clothes, while hiding from border guards who might arrest them. Finally, she is played by Maja Ostaszewska, a psychologist who has escaped the hustle and bustle of the world in Podlasie. There he will understand that he cannot bear isolation and indifference when people suffer and die nearby.

There are of course clear political overtones in “Green Borders” as well. But they are not the most important thing. This film diagnoses the state of today’s world, where migrations are increasing and societies have long ceased to be united. But also a world in which not all newcomers have the same opportunities for a good life.

In an unprecedented way, Poles opened their homes and hearts to refugees from the Ukrainian war. Thousands of people cross the Polish-Ukrainian border every day. Because of the Russian aggression against their country, they lost their sense of security and often carried terrible memories of warnings, fear, bombed houses, and spending days and nights in basements.