‘Green Border’ Snubbed by Poland for Oscar Submission

I’m not even that big a fan of Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” and can still tell you that it not being chosen as Poland’s Oscar submission is absolutely political.

Holland’s film had a major shot at cracking the final five in the Best International Film category, but Poland instead opted to select an animated film, DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman’s “The Peasants,” which premiered at TIFF.

“Green Border” competed for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. It also garnered very positive reviews. However, condemnation soon followed, Polish government officials were not happy about the depiction of their border guards.

The film, which dramatizes the plight of migrants caught in the Belarus–European Union border crisis, has caused major backlash from Poland’s conservative parties. What’s being criticized are scenes exploring the mistreatment of migrants along Poland’s forested border. Polish border guards can be seen beating up Syrian migrants in rather inhumane ways.

Polish justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, compared the film to a Nazi propaganda movie “showing Poles as bandits and murderers”. The deputy interior minister, Błażej Poboży, called the film a “disgusting libel” that is “harmful to the Polish state and Poles”.

The Polish government has commissioned “a specially prepared clip that shows the elements that were missing in this film”, praising the work of border guards. It is to be shown before screenings of the film in the country, although some theater owners are not complying.

Despite all that, the film nabbed the best opening weekend in Poland for a Polish film in 2023 in spite of a fierce political backlash. Close to 137,000 admissions were tallied between Thursday and Sunday.