Agnieszka Holland demands apology from justice minister for his "insulting post"

Poland's Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro wrote the following sentence in a post he published on X (formely 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". Ziobro attached a link to an interview with the director published by Onet.

Agnieszka Holland replied to Ziobro's words in a statement published on social media by her legal representative Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram. "I cannot stay indifferent to such an open and brutal attack from a person holding very important constitutional functions of Poland's justice minister and prosecutor general," the director wrote.

"In our country, which experienced the death, cruelty and suffering of millions during World War Two, being compared to the perpetrators of these events is extremely painful and requires an appropriate response. Placing me in one line with the Third Reich propagandists is so despicable that it leaves zero space for any polemic," she said, adding she was saying it as the granddaughter of Holocaust victims and daughter of a Warsaw Uprising courier.

Holland's latest film "Green Border" has garnered positive reviews from critics and is being tipped as one of the favorites to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

The director also said in the statement she would not comment on the fact that "a prominent government representative reviews a film he did not see". "I will, however, use the the media hype created this way in order to explain to him and his propagandists what "Green Border" actually is. Our movie is an attempt to give voice to those who are voiceless."

"If we listen to the stories we present in the movie, we will find it is immensely Polish, as it portrays wonderful Poles carrying relief to fellow human beings in spite of dangers, and immensely human, because it shows how ambiguous are the moral choices each one of us has to make," Holland added.

"It takes really plenty of malevolence and complete lack of moral principles to find anything else in "Green Border" to liken it to Nazi propaganda. I intend to defend myself against such depravity by taking legal steps," the President of the European Film Academy stressed.

Holland also demanded Zbigniew Ziobro apologise to her and donate 50,000 zlotys to the "Children of the Holocaust" Association. The director stressed that unless the minister complies with the demands, she will take the case to court.