The City of Poznań Freedom Award

This year’s edition of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival in Poznań is the fifth time that The City Of Poznań Freedom Award will be presented. From the films selected for the national Main Competition, a three-person Jury will award the winning title that most faithfully defends the foundations of freedom and fights for dignity and human rights through its cinematic message. The creator of the winning film will receive a prize of €3000.

Jury:

Kasia Czajka-Kominiarczuk - content creator, book author, lecturer and radio show host. In her work she focuses on topics related to pop culture with particular emphasis on its social aspects, the development of cinematography and the history of the American Academy Awards - the Oscars. For several years she has been running a popular culture blog, Zwierz Popkulturalny, and has created or co-created three podcasts, as well as the program “Uniwersum RMF Classic” on RMF Classic. She is also a lecturer at the University of Warsaw.

Natalia Koryncka-Gruz – feature and documentary film director, screenwriter, producer. Her film “1-1” won several awards in Poland and 18 at international festivals, including Turin, Bilbao (Grand Prix), Oberhausen (five awards, including the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Award), Nimes and Munich. She is the director of acclaimed, award-winning documentaries (including “Bezprizorni”, “Zbig”, “A Minor Genocide”, “Simona”), feature films (“Amok”, “Piekło Niebo”, “Warsaw by Night”) and Television Theater productions (including “Inka1946”). Member of the Polish Film Academy, Polish Filmmakers Association, Polish Directors Guild and European Film Academy.

Piotr Żytnicki – criminal, forensic and investigative journalist. Deputy editor-in-chief of “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Poznań. He started working for “Wyborcza” while still a high school student in 2003 in the editorial office in Gorzów Wielkopolski, and since 2008 he has worked in the Poznań editorial office. He is a three-time nominee for the Grand Press award in the “Investigative Journalism,” “Opinion Journalism” and “News” categories. He is a recipient of the Virtuti Civili awards presented for bravery by the Wielkopolska branch of the Association of Polish Journalists. He has also been nominated for the Student Journalism Awards. In his articles, he has reported, among other things, on the activities of pseudo football fans and organized crime groups, prosecution of innocent individuals by the prosecutor's office, sexual harassment in the Church, tenant harassment, high-profile disappearances and murders. More recently, he has been looking into the activities of Russian spies and saboteurs. He is a graduate and lecturer at the Gazeta Wyborcza Editors' School.