GREEN BORDER Trailer: Agnieszka Holland’s Gripping Drama Shines Light on the European Migrant Crisis

Known for her examinations of the Holocaust in her Oscar-nominated features Europa Europa and In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland turns her focus to the ever-pressing refugee crisis in her revelatory new film Green Border. Shot in crisp black and white, it provides an immersive look at the crisis through the eyes of a Syrian family fleeing ISIS, young border guards grasping the harsh realities of their job, and an activist who aids the refugees. After its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize, the film generated plenty of backlash from the right-wing Polish government for its depiction of their response to the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. It also screened to affected viewers at TIFF and NYFF. Kino Lorber has now unveiled the gripping U.S. trailer ahead of its release next month.

Here’s the official synopsis:

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. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Finding themself 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. Thirty years after her Oscar-nominated film EUROPA EUROPA, Agnieszka Holland’s poignant and essential GREEN BORDER opens our eyes and speaks to the heart, challenging viewers to reflect on the moral choices that fall to ordinary people every day.

Green Border opens at NYC’s Film Forum on June 21 before expanding nationwide.

See the U.S. trailer and poster below.

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