Former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has been ordered by a Warsaw court to publicly apologize to Oscar-nominated director Agnieszka Holland for statements he made regarding her film, “Green Border.” The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, stems from a lawsuit Holland filed in September 2023, objecting to Ziobro’s comparison of her work to Nazi propaganda.
Ziobro’s initial comments, posted on X (formerly Twitter), stated, “In the Third Reich, the Germans produced propaganda films showing Poles as bandits and murderers. Today they have Agnieszka Holland for that.” Holland argued the statements constituted defamation and hate speech, initiating legal action shortly after they were made. She told Variety at the 2023 Venice Film Festival that the accusation was “over-the-top, even for that [ruling] party,” and particularly offensive given her family history as the grandchild of Holocaust victims and the daughter of a Warsaw Uprising fighter.
The court mandated that Ziobro publish a specific apology, stating, “I, Zbigniew Ziobro, apologize to Agnieszka Holland for repeatedly violating her personal rights, in particular her name, honor, personal dignity, and artistic work by comparing her, and the film ‘Green Border’ directed by her, to the activities of propagandists of the Third Reich and Stalinism and other criminal regimes, by accusing her of moral crimes and using other disgraceful and stigmatizing expressions.” He was also ordered to donate 50,000 PLN to the Association of the Children of the Holocaust in Poland.
“Green Border,” which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, depicts the experiences of refugees stranded on the Belarus-Poland border. The film sparked controversy in Poland, drawing criticism from then-President Andrzej Duda and other government officials, and prompting Holland to express fears for her safety. Producer Mike Downey described the film as “an exploration of the injustice and terror carried out by Polish border guards” and a “damning portrait” of the then-government’s response to the refugee crisis.
Holland characterized the court’s decision as a victory for freedom of expression and a rebuke of political impunity. “This made the day for many people in Poland!” she told Variety. She emphasized the importance of challenging those in power, stating, “We wanted to show people that we will not supply in, that there is no tolerance for inciting hatred against citizens, that It’s possible to win — at least symbolically — even against the mafia in power.”
The ruling comes as Ziobro faces separate legal challenges, including charges of embezzlement and authorizing the use of spyware to hack the phones of political opponents. He has since fled Poland and been granted political asylum in Hungary. Downey characterized Ziobro as “the former government’s poster boy for its lies, hate and propaganda,” suggesting his seeking asylum in Hungary underscored the severity of the allegations against him.
Holland, currently working on a film about writer Jerzy Kosiński, has consistently used her platform to address political and social issues. She stated that the “most important thing in this difficult world is the message of courage, solidarity, and justice,” and urged others to defend their rights, regardless of the consequences.
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