Bloodline

In the oldest forest in Europe, the border between Poland and Belarus is marked by a large fence. Its purpose is to make it harder for refugees to enter the European Union. But what kind of collateral damage does it cause? The short film Bloodline chooses a clever, thought-provoking perspective, focusing not on humans, but on a bison.

A snorting straggler stands lost on one side of the fence, watching the rest of the herd on the other. The animal sees a deer, similarly abandoned by its herd, being mauled by wolves. There is no hope of a passing patrol car coming to the bison’s aid. No one is aware of what is happening. Except for filmmaker Wojciech Węglarz.

The arbitrariness of national borders, the effects humans have on nature, and their unseen victims—Bloodline shows all this, but without laboring the point. Viewers are left to reflect on the cold reality for themselves.