The film was theatrically released by Kino Świat on 22 September 2023 and had 137,435 admissions in its first week, which is the best opening result for a Polish film in 2023.
The Green Border, a coproduction between Poland, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic, is about the fact that each of us can unexpectedly find ourselves in a borderline situation and be forced to make choices between good and evil. It's a fictional story, but the film's script was based on real events that are happening right next to us.
The preparations for the film included hundreds of hours of document analysis, interviews with refugees, border guards, border residents, activists and experts.
The cast of the film includes: Maja Ostaszewska, Tomasz Włosok, Piotr Stramowski, Jaśmina Polak, Marta Stalmierska, Agata Kulesza, Maciej Stuhr and Magdalena Popławska as well as foreign actors: Jalal Altawil, Behi Djanati Atai, Mohamad Al Rashi, Dalia Naous and Joely Mbundu.
The film's script is a joint work of Agnieszka Holland, director Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko and writer Maciej Pisuk.
“We live in a world where great imagination and courage are needed to face all the challenges of today. The revolution of social media and artificial intelligence have made it increasingly difficult for a clear voice to be heard. In my opinion, there is no point in dealing with art if you do not fight for this voice, if you do not fight to ask questions about important, painful, sometimes unsolvable topics that put us before choices, sometimes very dramatic ones. For me, this is what is happening on the Polish-Belarusian border”, director Agnieszka Holland said in an official statement.
The Green Border was produced by Metro Films and Astute Films in coproduction with Blick Productions, Marlene Film Production and Beluga Tree with the support of Eurimages, the Czech Film Fund, the CNC – Centre National du Cinéma et L’Image Animée - Cinéma du Monde, Sofica La Banque Postale Image 17, Centre du Cinéma et de L’Audiovisuel de la Federation Wallonie Bruxelles, CANAL+ Poland, the Czech Television and ZDF/ARTE.
