This year’s MDAG lineup features nearly 180 short and feature-length films, making it quite a challenge to choose just a few highlights. How to find your way through this cinematic jungle? Let founder and festival director Artur Liebhart guide you with his hand-picked selection.

Here’s my top twelve. I can’t give you more—otherwise I’d never stop!

A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things – dir. Mark Cousins

Where and when does inspiration strike? Why is it worth believing in your talent? What is abstract art really about?

A Want in Her – dir. Myrid Carten

When family issues arise, it’s important to have a camera—and courage. An uncle helps too, preferably two!

Only on Earth – dir. Robin Petré

In Galicia, wild horses are the last line of defense against devastating fires. But their numbers are dwindling.

One to One: John & Yoko – dir. Kevin Macdonald

I think I’ve finally warmed up to John Lennon. Could it be thanks to the FBI’s recordings of his phone calls? :)

A Flower of Mine – dir. Paolo Cognetti

How can mountains save us? Where’s the highest vegan restaurant in the Alps? How do you find your own flower?

Trains – dir. Maciej Drygas

Trainspotting on a philosophical level. Pure gold—for the bold and cinema lovers.

Viktor – dir. Olivier Sarbil

Discover what a deaf samurai from Kharkiv hears, the photos he takes, and how his story inspires others.

Riefenstahl – dir. Andres Veiel

Think you know everything about Leni? She only truly revealed her talents after the war…

Wishing On a Star – dir. Peter Kerekes

A fortune-teller from Naples who sent people into the world in search of happiness. Kerekes at his Austro-Hungarian best.

To the West, in Zapata – dir. David Bim

Cuban spleen with an alligator strapped to the trunk. Visually top-tier.
 

 

Series at MDAG:

The Black Swan – dir. Mads Brügger

Mads Brügger outdoes himself and demolishes the myth of a “pure” Denmark and Scandinavia.

Social Studies – dir. Lauren Greenfield

A Californian answer to Boyhood—but with much more hope.

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/).