Agnieszka Holland‘s refugee drama The Green Border has taken the top prize for best film at the Polish Film Awards. The black-and-white feature, which looks at the inhumane treatment of refugees trying to cross the natural border between Belarus and Poland, premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival last year but came under attack from Poland’s far-right government, which called the movie “Nazi propaganda” for its supposedly negative depiction of Polish police and border guards. The political attacks are thought to have influenced the Polish Oscar committee’s decision not to put Green Border forward as Poland’s best international film contender this year, instead selecting DK and Hugh Welchman’s Hugh animated literary adaptation The Peasants (which did not get nominated).
But a lot has changed in Poland since. Parliamentary elections last October ousted the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had ruled for 8 years, and put a centrist, pro-European coalition led by Donald Tusk in power.
Holland, director of the Oscar-nominated Angry Harvest (1985), Europa Europa (1992) and In Darkness (2011), also received a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Polish Eagles ceremony, held in Warsaw on March 4.
“You can only make good films if you’re free and if you’re not afraid,” said Holland, accepting her award. “And even if you feel fear, you know that the greatest victory is to overcome it. Today we live in a world where monsters are beginning to rule. A huge part of the world is already ruled by monsters. These monsters are confronted by good-natured and quite frightened politicians. And we can’t be such good-natured and rather frightened filmmakers if we want to be more than just providers of escape entertainment in this world. We really have to face this world.”
The other big winner was Scarborn, from director Paweł Maślona, an 18th-century period epic about General Tadeusz ‘Kos’ Kosciuszko, who mobilized the Polish nobility and peasants to lead an uprising against the Russians. The film picked up six Eagle awards, including for best director and best screenplay. In the TV honors, Netflix’s 1670 won best Polish drama series. Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness won the prize for best European film.
Full list of Polish Film Award Winners
Best Film
The Green Border dir. Agnieszka Holland
Best Director
Paweł Maślona for Scarborn
Best Script
Michał A. Zieliński for Scarborn
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Magdalena Cielecka in Anxiety
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Eryk Kulm Jr. in Filip
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Agnieszka Grochowska in Scarborn
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Tomasz Schuchardt in Doppelgänger. The Double
Best Cinematography
Michał Sobociński for Filip
Best Music
Łukasz “L.U.C.” Rostkowski for The Peasants
Best Editing
Nikodem Chabior for Filip
Best Production Design
Katarzyna Sobańska, Marcel Sławiński for Filip
Best Costumes
Dorota Roqueplo for Scarborn
Best Make-up
Aneta Brzozowska for Scarborn
Best Sound
Radosław Ochnio, Adam Szlenda, Filip Krzemień for Scarborn
Audience Award
The Peasants dir. DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman’
Best Documentary
Pianoforte dir. Jakub Piątek
Best Drama Series
1670 dir. Maciej Buchwald, Kordian Kądziela
Best European Film
Triangle of Sadness dir. Ruben Östlund
Discovery of the Year
Grzegorz Dębowski for directing Next to Nothing
Lifetime Achievement Eagle Award
Agnieszka Holland