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IDFA2024 The Guest 1

The Guest

Zvika Gregory Portnoy, Zuzanna Solakiewicz / PL, QA, 2024 / 78 min.

A Polish family takes in a Syrian refugee who is trapped in the grim border area between Polish and Belarusian pushbacks. Time is running out and there are few options. Despite the language problems, they develop a bond.

poster IDFA 2024

In 2021, the border area between Poland and Belarus became a forbidden zone, three kilometers wide, where refugees found themselves brutally trapped. They had become the stakes in a political game: Belarus supposedly guaranteed free passage to the EU, but in Poland the refugees met with pushbacks, forcing them back across the border. Once in Belarus again, they were driven back towards Poland—a horrific stalemate in an inhospitable landscape of treacherous marshes.

Maciek lives with his family on the Polish side of the border. He has taken in an exhausted Syrian refugee, the 27-year-old Alhyder. After he has regained his strength, Alhyder faces the big question: what now? Where can he go without putting either himself or Maciek in danger?

The tension is palpable in this sensitive, sharply observant documentary. Without a hint of sensationalism, the camera reads the emotions on the faces of the silent Polish family members and their grateful guest. The situation is dire, and a solution remains out of reach. Yet, at the same time, the film is permeated by the warmth of human help and contact.

This is part of

Details

Director

Zvika Gregory Portnoy, Zuzanna Solakiewicz

Production year

2024

Country

PL, QA

Length

78 min.

Language

English, Polish, Arabic

Subtitles

ENG

Format

DCP

Part of

IDFA 2024

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is once again bringing an exciting selection of the world's best documentaries to Eye this year, from November 14 until 24.

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