Holland’s finest work in a while and one that incurred the wrath of the Polish government, this politically sharp and urgent piece about refugees that get pushed about at the border between Poland and Belarus is complex and shot soberingly in black-and-white.
Review #2,716
Dir. Agnieszka Holland
2023 | Poland | Drama | 147 min | 2.35:1 | Polish, Arabic, English & French
NC16 (passed clean) for mature content and coarse language
Cast: Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska, Behi Djanati Atai, Tomasz Włosok, Mohamad Al Rashi
Plot: Follows a family of Syrian refugees, an English teacher from Afghanistan and a border guard. They all meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis in Belarus.
Awards: Won Special Jury Prize & Nom. for Golden Lion (Venice)
International Sales: Films Boutique
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Refugees Crisis; Border Crisis; Politics & Ethics; Activism
Narrative Style: Slightly Complex
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Arthouse
Viewed: Screener (as part of Singapore Film Society Showcase)
Spoilers: No
Green Border can be soul-crushing to view, but it is a very essential piece of cinema coming out of a Europe fractured by politics.
Today, and as it has continuously been for countless years, refugees from the Middle East and Africa risk their lives to escape war and persecution by making it to the EU borders. Some have been let in officially on humanitarian grounds, while others have sneaked in only to be deported.
In veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland’s latest picture—and frankly, her finest work in a while—refugees find themselves at the border between Poland and Belarus where they get pushed about by soldiers on both sides. If they are lucky enough to find themselves in Polish territory, they have to hide in the cold, damp forest.
Holland tells of this precarious situation in this complex work through three perspectives: the suffering refugees, a border guard caught between morality and duty, and the brave Polish activists who try to provide aid at the risk of being sent to prison.
“They’ve been watching our stories for the past ten years. Nobody did anything.”
Shot soberingly in black-and-white, Green Border is an urgent film that is so politically sharp and damning that it incurred the wrath of the Polish government, who of course, didn’t submit this exceptional work to the Oscars for Best International Picture.
The film is compelling all through its rather lengthy runtime; it feels purposeful, invigorating and heart-pounding, but on the same note, it also shows the empathy of human beings amid the brutality.
Green Border will surely spark more discourse on the treatment of refugees in Europe, and would make a great companion piece to Ken Loach’s new film, The Old Oak (2023), which explores the racist pushback from the locals against Syrian refugees arriving in their British town and being assigned vacant houses to live in.
It isn’t easy for any country to open its doors to refugees without being entirely cognizant of the social and political implications, but Green Border goes for the humanitarian jugular, asking very difficult questions that very few can answer.
Grade: A-
Promo Clip:
Eternality Tan 
[…] new, particularly border dramas (a fine example from last year was Agnieszka Holland’s harrowing Green Border), but here is a somewhat refreshing take on refugees who have found some kind of ‘safe haven’ […]
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[…] Cinematography: GREEN BORDER for the stark and sobering black-and-white photography that shaped a politically sharp and urgent […]
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