December

An empty seat left at the Christmas Eve table for unexpected guests is a sign of hospitality and generosity. But what if it’s a migrant who has just crossed the country’s border?

As December arrives, many are excited by the upcoming Christmas and year-end celebrations. But for those without shelter, who have no place to call home, it is the cruellest month. Refugees camped in the forests along the Poland-Belarus border remain invisible to much of the world. Grzegorz Paprzycki’s film juxtaposes scenes of people preparing for and enjoying the festive season with voices of hatred and hostility, exposing the chilling reality of so much indifference to the refugee crisis. But his primary focus is the refugees whose voices and cries seem to fall on deaf ears and whose presence, an inconvenience for some, is a sad reflection on our wider society. This poignantly beautiful film powerfully summons and confronts the refugee issue, compelling us to truly see it.

Sheffield DocFest 2025
WatchDocs 2025
Trieste Film Festival 2026