In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called ‘green border’ between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.
Born in Warsaw (Poland) in 1948, she studied filmmaking at Prague’s FAMU. After several jobs for television and theatre, in 1979 she directed her second feature film, ‘Provincial Actors’, screened at the 25th Seminci and winner of the Fipresci Prize at Cannes. With ‘Angry Harvest’ (1985) she received an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. Her feature ‘Europa Europa’ (1990) was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay. She also took part in the 37th edition of Seminci with ‘Olivier Olivier’, which won the award for best actress for Brigitte Roüan. She has also directed episodes of series such as ‘The Wire’, ‘Treme’ and ‘House of Cards’. In 2008, the MoMA in New York dedicated a complete retrospective to her ouvre. In 2011 she won the award for best director at the 56th edition of Valladolid’s Seminci with ‘In Darkness’, and in 2016 her film ‘Spoor’ won the award for best actress in Valladolid.