A major triumph for Polish cinema at IDFA, the world's largest documentary film festival in Amsterdam. Huge congratulations and recognition to the creators! The Main Prize in the IDFA International Competition went to "Trains" by Maciej J. Drygas, which also won the award for Best Editing. The award for Best Cinematography in the Main Competition was given to "The Guest" by Zuzanna Solakiewicz and Zvika Gregory Portnoy. Both films will have their Polish premieres on MDAG in May!
TRAINS by reż. Maciej J. Drygas
"Trains" by Maciej J. Drygas is a reflective journey through the 20th century composed entirely of archival footage. This silent, visually striking film is accompanied by an intricate sound design with music by Paweł Szymański. It explores the train compartment as a space where people are temporarily detached from the context of their daily lives. For hours or days, they inhabit a new social setting, their lives dictated by the rhythm of the timetable. The film captures the beauty, magic, and, at times, pain of train travel.
THE GUEST by Zuzanna Solakiewicz & Zvika Gregory Portnoy
"The Guest", directed by Zuzanna Solakiewicz and Zviki Gregory Portnoy, with co-directed by Michał Bielawski tells a deeply relevant and poignant story in light of the ongoing crisis at Poland’s border. Set in the winter of 2021 during the escalating border crisis, it follows Maciek and his mother Renata, who live in a Polish village near the Belarusian border. The militarized zone, patrolled by border guards and soldiers, is a closed area meant to push back "illegal" migrants. One day, Renata lets an exhausted Syrian refugee into their home.
ABOUT A HERO by Piotr Winiewicz
The opening film of the festival in Amsterdam was "About a Hero" — a story about the role of artificial intelligence in our lives, directed by Polish filmmaker Piotr Winiewicz. This film will also have its Polish premiere at MDAG.
Winiewicz’s film features the legendary director Werner Herzog, who once said, "A computer will not make a film as good as mine in 4500 years." But is that true? "About a Hero" is an adaptation of a screenplay written by AI, drawing inspiration from Herzog’s works. This fictional, yet self-aware, narrative intertwines with interviews with artists, philosophers, and scientists, exploring concepts such as originality, authenticity, immortality, and the soul in the era of AI. Herzog himself takes on a unique role in the film, one he has never played before in his life…
Polish audiences will have the chance to see all three films during the 22nd edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity from May 9 to 18, 2025, in cinemas in seven cities (Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Łódź, and Bydgoszcz) and from May 20 to June 2, 2025, online at mdag.pl!
