The documentary film The Guest directed by Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz has won the IDFA Award for Best Cinematography in the International Competition (Poland/Qatar).
The jury statement: “The cinematography captured incremental subtle shifts in an intimate yet fragile relationship between two strangers in a high stakes situation. The choice to remain close achieved both intimacy and claustrophobia, adding to a palpable tension. The IDFA Award for Best Cinematography goes to The Guest by Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz.”
Synopsis
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.
