Border Crossing
A drama based in the summer of 1989, the final year of communism in Eastern Europe, inspired by a childhood memory of crossing the border - not only between countries, but between the instinctive world of nature and the incomprehensible world of the adults.
The story follows paths dictated by the little girl's attention going from the bees buzzing around, to the rising tension between her parents, to the frightening border guard pacing along the queue.
As the heat rises and the atmosphere thickens, can the little girl melt the border guard's icy heart?
"Border Crossing" premiered at Krakow Film Festival 2019.
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Agnieszka ChmuraDirector
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Agnieszka ChmuraWriter
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Piotr LenarProducer
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Pola Galica GalochKey Cast"Girl"
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Agnieszka KoscielniakKey Cast"Mother"
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Andrzej RozmusKey Cast"Father"
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Andrzej FranczykKey Cast"Guard"
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Joanna KakitekCinematography
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Adriano MantovaSound
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Bartosz IdziSound
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Przemysław KopaczEditing
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Agnieszka ChmuraEditing
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Project Title (Original Language):Przejście Graniczne
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Project Type:Short
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Runtime:15 minutes
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Completion Date:April 11, 2019
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Country of Origin:Poland
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Country of Filming:Poland
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Language:Polish
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Krakow Film FestivalKrakow
Poland
May 28, 2019
National
National Competition -
CamerimageTorun
Poland
November 11, 2019
Etudes Panorama -
Alice nella cittàRome
Italy
October 19, 2019
Italian premiere
Official selection -
Trieste Film FestivalTrieste
Italy
Competition -
Brest European Short Film FestivalBrest
France
European Competition -
Un festival c'est trop court!Nice
France
October 14, 2019
French premiere
European Competition -
Seoul International Film FestivalSeoul
Korea, Republic of
September 22, 2019
Korean Premiere
Official Selection -
Directed By Women TurkeyIstanbul
Turkey
September 14, 2019
Turkish Premiere
Finalist -
Charlotte Film FestivalCharlotte, NC
United States
September 25, 2019
American Premiere
Official Selection -
World of Film International Festival GlasgowGlasgow
United Kingdom
October 3, 2019
UK Premiere
Female Perspective Award -
Bihać Avantura Film FestivalBihać
Bosnia and Herzegovina
August 2, 2019
European
Best Short Fiction Award -
Chaktomuk Short Film FestivalPhnom Penh
Cambodia
September 6, 2019
Asian Premiere
Official Selection -
Northern Wave International Film FestivalRif
Iceland
October 25, 2019
Icelandic Premiere
International selection -
Filmski Front FestivalNovi Sad
Serbia
October 24, 2019
Serbian premiere
Official selection -
Film Spring OpenKrakow
Poland
October 17, 2019 -
Short to the Point
Romania
Best Film, Best Cinematography - September 2019 -
Festival Internacional de Cine Luz del DesiertoBuenos Aires
Argentina
South America
Best International Short Film Award -
Cinemistica
Spain -
Shorts That Are Not PantsToronto
Canada -
Festival International du cinéma d'auteur de Rabat
Morocco
African -
EuroshortsGdansk
Poland -
Beijing International Short Film Festival
China -
Shinjuku World FestivalTokyo
Japan -
CineKasimanwa: The Western Visayas Film Festival
Philippines
Born in Krakow, Poland in 1986, studied Documentary Film at Université Aix-Marseille in France, currently based in London where she works as video editor. "Border Crossing" is her debut short fiction.
"Border crossing" is a film about approaching borders and limits, external and internal.
It's summer 1989. A little girl is traveling with her parents, enjoying the summer, the holidays, her childhood. But as the family approaches the border, the girl senses unspecified fear, anxiety. She enters the world of adults which she doesn't understand. She doesn't see the boundaries of this world, doesn't understand what has changed suddenly, doesn't know the rules of the game.
Conflicts between the characters grow within glances and conjectures. When the harsh border guard realises that the girl found his human feelings, he immediately rejects that realisation. A scratch appears on the system when it turns out that its ferocious servant has fragility on the inside like all of us, and the helpless little girl finds her inner strength.
My film is also a sentimental and scary journey into the not too distant past behind the Iron Curtain. The film is based on my short but intense memory of crossing the border as a three-year-old, a memory of that feeling of fear, even though we had nothing to hide. Now I am a mother myself and again I look at the world from the perspective of a child, who enters this world and explores its confusing ways, dangers, feelings, systems and boundaries.