Darlington's Dedicated Live Music Venue & Studios
Connected Communities: Stories and Cultural Practices in Darlington
15–21 June 2026
As part of REFUGEE WEEK in Darlington we invite you to a week of exhibitions, events, and film screenings celebrating the stories, creativity, and cultures that shape Darlington today. Bringing together work created by local residents – including migrants and long-term communities – the programme explores themes of home, belonging, and shared experience through art, storytelling, and film.
Everyone is welcome – come along, explore, and connect.
Connected Communities is led by the Institute for Collective Place Leadership at Teesside University in collaboration with Creative Darlington, Centre for Local Studies, Hopetown Darlington, The Forum, and Darlington Assistance for Refugees, and is supported by the AHRC Impact Acceleration Account and Creative Darlington. In partnership with the Stockton and Darlington Railway 26 miles Heritage Project and funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Green Border: After moving to Podlasie, psychologist Julia (Maja Ostaszewska) becomes an involuntary witness and participant of dramatic events on the Polish-Belarusian border. Aware of the risks and legal consequences, she joins a group of activists helping refugees camping in the forests in the zone covered by the state of emergency. At the same time, a Syrian family fleeing the civil war and their Afghan teacher, not knowing that they are tools of political fraud by the Belarusian authorities, are trying to get to the borders of the European Union. In Poland, fate will bring them together with Julia and the young border guard Jan (Tomasz Wlosok). The events taking place around them will force them all to ask themselves anew the question – what is humanity?
Run Time: 2hrs 32 mins
Age Certification: 15
Director: Agnieszka Holland
