The Magic of Cinema: Retrospectives of Mark Cousins and Andrzej Munk at the 22nd MDAG!

A deep dive into the history of art and cinema offered by Mark Cousins, alongside Andrzej Munk’s rationalist vision of Poland—these two perspectives will resonate strongly during the 22nd Millennium Docs Against Gravity. The retrospectives coincide with the premieres of new films: Michał Bielawski boldly presents the profile of one of Poland’s most important filmmakers in The Passenger. Andrzej Munk, while Mark Cousins portrays the remarkable Scottish abstract painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham in A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things.

The curators of these sections—MDAG’s artistic director Karol Piekarczyk and Wojciech Diduszko, director of the Polish Competition—introduce these extraordinary films, which will be showcased to festival audiences this May.

The retrospectives are partnered with the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute

The 22nd MDAG will take place from May 9–18, 2025, in cinemas across seven cities and online from May 20 to June 2 at mdag.pl!The stories of looking. 

The Stories of Looking: A Mark Cousins retrospective
Mark Cousins is one of the most prolific contemporary documentary filmmakers of our time. He is best known for his films about cinema, deconstructing and analyzing it in ways we may never have considered before. However, as we delve into his work, something becomes evident—something that should have been obvious from the start: we analyze images every day. Our lives are built on perceptions, and, hopefully, through this retrospective, we will not only learn to see films differently but also the world around us.

The retrospective will feature Q&A sessions with Mark Cousins following the screening of his latest film, as well as showings of his previous works and a highly unconventional masterclass.

His most recent film, A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, which won the Grand Prize at the Karlovy Vary Festival, once again takes us on a journey into the way we perceive art. This time, however, it is not film but the paintings of Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (voiced by Tilda Swinton). At first, the subject may seem uncharacteristic for Cousins—his focus is not on carefully composed cinematic images but on abstract modern art. Yet, as A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things unfolds, it reveals something profound: while our initial encounter with art—especially modern art—is often rooted in the emotions it evokes, there is also a structural approach, one that can lead us down a completely different path, helping us understand where those emotions originate. 

As part of the retrospective, we will have the opportunity to see The Story of Film: A New Generation, a continuation of one of Cousins’ most renowned works, The Story of Film: An Odyssey—a 15-hour-long ode to cinema. This new installment explores the films that have truly captured the essence of our times. In his unique style, Cousins weaves together the emotions these films evoke with an appreciation for the craftsmanship behind them. From Joker to Moonlight, from Mad Max to Frozen, this is a love letter to cinema. If there are films in A New Generation that we have yet to see, we will surely want to watch them now. And for those we have already seen, Cousins’ insights will make us eager to revisit them.

The retrospective will also include screenings of the first two parts of Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema. Once again, with narration by Cousins’ longtime collaborator, Tilda Swinton, this film examines the decades-long yet often-overlooked impact of women in cinema. It brings to light extraordinary, forgotten stories, offering a fresh perspective on film history. 

Additionally, we will screen I Am Belfast, a surreal portrait of a city embodied by a cinematic vision of a woman. She guides us through the story of this troubled yet beautiful place. In this film, Cousins not only brings us closer to his Northern Irish roots but also shows us that if we pause for a moment and take a closer look at a building or a street, we can find stunning imagery—just as captivating as the frames we see in films.

The final film in the retrospective is I Am Alfred Hitchcock. In this documentary, Cousins takes an unconventional approach, enlisting impressionist Alistair McGowan to mimic Hitchcock’s iconic voice and guide us through his works. Through a meticulous study of the legendary director’s films, we come to understand the true mastery and trickery with which Hitchcock captivated audiences—often using subtle illusions and techniques that influence our subconscious.

-Karol Piekarczyk

Andrzej Munk: Perspectives

From its very beginnings, film history has thrived on dualisms. The Lumière brothers, devoted to realism, versus the visionary Georges Méliès, who indulged in boundless imagination. The politically engaged and intellectual Jean-Luc Godard versus the humanist François Truffaut, who embraced classical storytelling. The list goes on. In Poland, the most passionate cinematic debate once revolved around the "rivalry" between two Andrzejs—Wajda and Munk. Wajda’s romanticism clashed with Munk’s rationalism, sparking intellectual disputes and everyday discussions among the Polish intelligentsia. The two filmmakers respected each other, and Wajda consistently included Munk’s films in his personal lists of the greatest works in cinema history.

Roman Polański shared this admiration, considering Munk a master. He viewed Munk’s premature death as one of the greatest tragedies to befall Polish culture. Before his untimely passing, Munk directed several films that continue to captivate audiences, impressing with their modern form, intellectual rigor, and engagement with viewers—above all, challenging Poland’s deeply rooted romantic tradition.

The mini-retrospective is inspired by Michał Bielawski’s The Passenger. Andrzej Munk, a bold portrayal of one of Poland’s most significant filmmakers and an insightful reevaluation of his legacy.

No retrospective of Munk would be complete without his documentary films. This was where he began, refining his style, experimenting with form, and developing his unique cinematic voice, which later found full expression in his groundbreaking feature films. In the documentary realm, Munk had greater creative freedom—evading censorship while capturing the reality of 1950s Poland. Kolejarskie słowo (1953) is a propaganda piece in content but formally innovative, offering a glimpse into the lives of railway workers. Gwiazdy muszą płonąć (1954) impresses with its raw documentation and genuine fascination with the labor of miners. Meanwhile, Spacerek staromiejski (1958) is a charming miniaturist film, influenced by Jacques Tati, in which the camera follows a 10-year-old girl on a walk through Warsaw’s Old Town. 

From Munk’s four feature films, two have been selected. Man on the Tracks(1956), shaped by his documentary experience and inspired by neorealism, was the first anti-Stalinist film made within the socialist bloc. A story about railway workers, shot on location and in natural interiors, it outwardly adheres to socialist realism yet ultimately pays tribute to human dignity and the ethos of hard, honest labor—values not always at the forefront of Poland’s national identity. The film’s closing scene is one of the most powerful in Polish cinema history, marking a turning point. With this film, Munk paved the way for a new era, proving that Polish cinema, after years of suffocating censorship, was capable of producing original, artistically accomplished, and socially significant works. The film became emblematic of the political thaw of October 1956, a moment of hope for a more humane socialism.

The second film in the selection, Passenger (1963), is Munk’s magnum opus, though tragically left unfinished due to his fatal car accident. Even in its incomplete form—finished by his collaborators—the film remains one of the most powerful depictions of the Holocaust. The story of a Nazi overseer and a former prisoner who meet years later on a luxury cruise ship is remarkable in its courageous exploration of the nature of evil and the moral ambiguities of human behavior in extreme circumstances. Munk was clearly influenced by Tadeusz Borowski’s writings but moved beyond his pessimism. Passenger was an obsession for Munk—during filming, he even lived in the Auschwitz commandant’s former quarters.Described by Adam Garbicz as a "spectacle of gazes," the film’s pioneering concentration camp scenes became a reference point for many subsequent cinematic portrayals of the Holocaust.

-Wojciech Diduszko

The 22nd MDAG will take place from May 9 to 18, 2025, in cinemas in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Łódź, and from May 20 to June 2 online at mdag.pl! The festival’s title sponsor is Bank Millennium. (https://www.bankmillennium.pl/).