05/03/2024 - Lidia Duda’s feature follows a Polish family facing the growing humanitarian crisis on the EU’s eastern border

Polish filmmaker Lidia Duda’s Forest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lidia Duda
film profile] is set to enjoy its world-premiere in the International Competition of this year’s Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, running 7-17 March.

The feature centres on the family of Asia and Marek, who bought an old house near the eastern border of Poland after graduating from university. Located in the Białowieża Forest, the oldest forest in Europe, the couple have created their own paradise over the years, a place where their children can grow up in safety, away from the problems of the modern world. For Marysia, Ignacy and Franek, the forest has become their tamed and trusted second home. But one day, things begin to change and strangers begin to appear: refugees, who are unwelcome both in Poland and Belarus. Despite controversial border laws, the entire family helps those in need. This new reality has an impact on the children's world: instead of knights and princesses, they now play refugee and border guards. The growing humanitarian crisis on the EU border enters into the family’s safe space, and nothing is as it once was.

‘I’m not focusing on politics, but rather on its consequences for the individual, the human perspective on ethical and moral decisions in a given situation. What I try to find in my protagonists is strength of character and strength of family, whose members support each other in hard times. A fear of refugees, of a political crisis, of war and trauma: this is my kind of antihero. There have always been and always will be refugees and people who help them. In this instance, they receive support from a Polish family with three little kids, whose life has unexpectedly been filled with people fleeing from their home. I believe many families around the world can relate to their experience”, Duda tells Cineuropa.

Forest is produced by Lumisenta Film Foundation (Poland), in co-production with Lonely Production (Czech Republic), Canal+ Poland, EC1 Łódź - City of Culture (Poland), Anna Bławut Mazurkiewicz for Studio Filmowe Rabarbar (Poland) and Lidia Duda herself. The movie is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute and the Czech Film Fund. Berlin-based Rise and Shine World Sales are managing international rights.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: