Support for Agnieszka Holland

As described in a recent article by Screen International, "Poland’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “In the Third Reich, the Germans produced propaganda films showing Poles as bandits and murderers. Today they have Agnieszka Holland for that.” The political attack against Holland has been accompanied by a wave of online abuse against the director in Poland."

We, like our colleagues at the Federation of European Screen Directors FERA, condemn the appalling attacks against her and the film in Poland. We stand firmly behind Agnieszka and we fully endorse the European Film Academy’s recent statement.

Around the world, many artists have been and continue to be subject to hostility. The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk and its founding institutions, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and European Film Academy, demand an immediate end to the hostility and threats against Agnieszka Holland. We stand fully behind her and urge critical engagement with the important issues of our time, as they are visible around us in Europe and in the films made here. We strongly believe that culture in every society benefits from this.

We demand respect and safety for all filmmakers, including Agnieszka Holland.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk
International Film Festival Rotterdam
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
European Film Academy