Even before it appeared in Polish cinemas, “” managed to cause a real storm on the domestic political scene. The production attacked by the government received every possible epithet, including references to Hitler and the Nazis. Politicians associated with the government also question the method of financing the film, accusing, for example, the Warsaw authorities of complicity in the project, which they believe attacks Poland.
Meanwhile, the finances thanks to which the “Green Border” was created are public. And although the production did receive funds from the Regional Film Fund, Warsaw itself, together with the Masovian Voivodeship Self-Government and the Masovian Cultural Institute, donated the least amount of money out of all the entities financing the film.
“The Green Border” – who is responsible for financing the film?
When Agnieszka Holland talked about what was one of the most difficult aspects of creating “The Green Border”, she also talked about finding the means to make the film.
The financial aspect was a challenge. It quickly turned out that our film had an epic dimension, there were many plots and characters, which made it suddenly grow to such dimensions that it could not be made for five cents – said the director in an interview with Oko.press.
Therefore, applications were submitted to numerous European institutions dealing with cultural financing. As a result of the project, it is public and publicly available. Most of the funds come from outside Poland: the Council of Europe, of which Poland is a member, donated EUR 380,000. The funds come from the Commission’s special program – Eurimages, which, in addition to co-financing Agnieszka Holland’s painting in February this year, donated a total of over eight million euros to various productions from around the world. “Gazeta Polska Dzień” announced that it was one of the “highest financing granted”. The truth is that money was awarded to 32 productions. Seven of them received even more money than “Green Border”. But a total of 14 productions have already received funding above EUR 300,000, which places Holland’s film in the “richer” half of the pack.
Another EUR 100,000 and EUR 140,000 were donated by Le Center du Cinema et de l’Audiovisuel (a special program financed by Brussels) and Center National de la Cinematographie (financed by the French government), respectively. The Czech Republic also contributed to the production – Statni Fond Kinematografie, financed by the Czech Ministry of Culture, added 4 million Czech crowns (a little over PLN 750,000) to the budget of “The Green Border”.
In this perspective, the amount of PLN 300,000 that Agnieszka Holland received from Polish local government organizations sounds really meager.
Who certainly didn’t give a single penny to the “Green Border”? Minister Gliński tries to answer
Since we know who had a hand (and wallet) in the creation of the “Green Border”, it is also worth mentioning who did not spend a single zloty. Piotr Gliński, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, boasted of this achievement. He decided to anticipate questions and answered on Twitter how the government does not support the Polish director who has won awards at international festivals:
Due to imprecise information appearing in the public space, I would like to inform you that Mr. Holland’s film is not financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Polish Film Institute or any institutions related to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage – he wrote on Twitter about “The Green Border” in April this year year.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
