The 22nd edition of the “Kinoteka” Polish Film Festival is about to commence at the BFI Southbank Center in London. TVP World’s London correspondent, Klaudia Czerwińska, was joined by the renowned Polish film director Agnieszka Holland, whose feature film “Green Border” is going to open the event.
“We all feel very proud. We are really happy that we made the film. It was very difficult for many reasons. It is also not often when a feature film is based on the events which practically are happening during the shooting of the film,” said Holland, referring to the film’s plot which revolves around a family of Syrian refugees, an English teacher from Afghanistan, and a border guard who all meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the recent humanitarian crisis in Belarus engineered by Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
She mentioned that through the film, “the film crew wanted to express the depth of the human experience,” and that given the reception that the film received first in Venice and then Poland, proves that it worked.
She added that in every country where the film premiered, the reaction was quite similar. “In general, we can say that it is a very universal subject [migration - TVP World] and a very relevant subject today.”
She added that the film posed questions for which we don’t have the answers, “but we know that those questions, if put honestly, are very important.”
“I am not naive. I know it is an issue [migration - TVP World] which has incredibly deep and dangerous political and social consequences, but we did not try to make the film to present a political solution. We wanted to raise awareness that we are all human beings living on the same Earth and that we have to see each other as human beings, not as weapons or enemies,” she said, emphasizing that “the film has a purely human message.”
European dilemma
“All European countries are facing the dilemma of what we will choose, comfort or values, and it is not an easy question to answer as we all like comfort,” she said, adding that the real question remains whether we can preserve both comfort and values at the same time.
When asked what response she expects from the English audience, she said that she hopes that the response would not be any different from the response received from the audiences of other countries.
She also said that the British audience would be able to resonate with the film’s message as the subject of migration is also quite relevant here, and the solutions provided so far are quite problematic.
Speaking about Ukrainian refugees, the Polish director said that the countries that accepted them, including Poland, gained not only morally but also monetarily.
When asked about the current state of the Polish-Belarusian border, the Polish director said that unfortunately, the situation has not changed much despite the electoral change which she personally supported.
She mentioned that through the film, “the film crew wanted to express the depth of the human experience,” and that given the reception that the film received first in Venice and then Poland, proves that it worked.
She added that in every country where the film premiered, the reaction was quite similar. “In general, we can say that it is a very universal subject [migration - TVP World] and a very relevant subject today.”
She added that the film posed questions for which we don’t have the answers, “but we know that those questions, if put honestly, are very important.”
“I am not naive. I know it is an issue [migration - TVP World] which has incredibly deep and dangerous political and social consequences, but we did not try to make the film to present a political solution. We wanted to raise awareness that we are all human beings living on the same Earth and that we have to see each other as human beings, not as weapons or enemies,” she said, emphasizing that “the film has a purely human message.”
European dilemma
“All European countries are facing the dilemma of what we will choose, comfort or values, and it is not an easy question to answer as we all like comfort,” she said, adding that the real question remains whether we can preserve both comfort and values at the same time.
When asked what response she expects from the English audience, she said that she hopes that the response would not be any different from the response received from the audiences of other countries.
She also said that the British audience would be able to resonate with the film’s message as the subject of migration is also quite relevant here, and the solutions provided so far are quite problematic.
Speaking about Ukrainian refugees, the Polish director said that the countries that accepted them, including Poland, gained not only morally but also monetarily.
When asked about the current state of the Polish-Belarusian border, the Polish director said that unfortunately, the situation has not changed much despite the electoral change which she personally supported.
Source: TVP World
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