Ticket sales launch, full screening schedule, and the festival director’s recommendations
Only a dozen or so days remain until the start of the 23rd edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity. The screening grid for all seven festival cities is now available on mdag.pl, and ticket sales for individual screenings have also begun. Tickets can be purchased via the festival website as well as on cinema websites and at box offices.
The 23rd MDAG will take place from May 8 to 17, 2026 in cinemas across seven cities (Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Łódź, and Bydgoszcz), and from May 19 to June 1 online at mdag.pl! It is the largest film festival in Poland and the second-largest documentary film festival in Europe, which attracted over 181 thousand viewers in 2025.
Sales of passes and accreditations are coming to an end! Only the last remaining ones are available on book.mdag.pl. Passes and accreditations grant access to screenings of over 170 documentary films from around the world presented during the festival, are coming to an end! Only the last remaining ones are available on book.mdag.pl.
Sales of tickets for accompanying events:
Tickets for accompanying events are available on book.mdag.pl and at the venues co-organizing the events.
May 10, 16:30 / May 17, 18:15 | Muranów Ingrid, after the film THE FIFTH SEASON, dir. Giuseppe Carrieri | PURO Film to Table: screening and dinner inspired by the film
The original PURO Film to Table format combines a film screening with a culinary experience, creating a space where cinema can be experienced with all the senses. This unique meeting point of film and cuisine offers a new, unexpected way to experience the medium.
“The Fifth Season” tells the story of five outstanding Italian female chefs who reinterpret, in their own ways, the heritage of the places they come from. Their cooking is not only craftsmanship, but also a story of passion, experience, and memory. After the screening, we will take a walk together to the MUND restaurant, located in the PURO Warszawa Stare Miasto hotel, where a tasting dinner inspired by the philosophy of the film’s protagonists will take place. The post-screening dinner will become a natural extension of these stories, an invitation to explore how food can tell stories about time, place, and people.
The ticket price for the screening with the tasting dinner is 199 PLN. Those interested in purchasing a ticket are invited to book.mdag.pl
https://book.mdag.pl/pl/strona/film-to-table-seans-i-kolacja-inspirowana-filmem
https://book.mdag.pl/pl/strona/film-to-table-seans-i-kolacja-inspirowana-filmem-ii
May 11, 19:00, Copernicus Science Centre Planetarium | Screening of the film “Shifting Boundaries” at the Planetarium and meeting with the director
In Boca Chica, where the Rio Grande flows into the sea, dunes attract rare seabirds and the last wild ocelots in the United States. However, wetlands have been drained, beaches closed, and homes bought out to make way for a new SpaceX launch site. The film shows the consequences of this “space fever,” posing a fundamental question: do visions of conquering space truly lead to a better future, or are they merely expressions of reckless ambition that could lead humanity to catastrophe? The film presents a dramatic contrast between technological progress and the fragility of the ecosystem, prompting reflection on the true cost of development.
https://mdag.pl/23/pl/warszawa/event/Pokaz-filmu-%25E2%2580%259EPrzesuwajac-Granice%25E2%2580%259D-w-Planetarium-i-spotkanie-z
We invite you to a special screening of “Shifting Boundaries” at the Planetarium of the Copernicus Science Centre, followed by a meeting with the film’s director, Julien Elie.
Ticket sales for music events are also ongoing:
May 9, 19:30, ILUZJON | On Time and Water. Performance by Andri Snær Magnason and Bartek Wąsik | Ticket price: 40 PLN
Andri Snær Magnason and Bartek Wąsik will meet to create a moving event—a tribute to the beautiful planet we live on, with time as its central theme. The performance will explore the relationship between human memory and the natural world, reminding us of what we are trying to preserve.
https://www.iluzjon.fn.org.pl/filmy/info/7740/o-czasie-i-wodzie.html?rep=20540&fbclid=IwY2xjawRVrbFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETAxQzAxZXpvd014TTQ0SVFYc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHgokD-8p-_SAu5jvx8gd1i9b4aaxm9fd17dEYZlQmT8tD4j2qXoSYAPTj3JK_aem_XxRqmVFcnynjU0bl1M4R9w
May 13, 19:00, Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio | Concert by Joshua Eustis and Kelly Moran with the Polish Radio Orchestra performing “My Themersons” | Ticket price: 100 PLN, available on book.mdag.pl
[Grafika: w prawym górnym rogu zdjęcie kobiety, w lewym dolnym rogu zdjęcie mężczyzny; tekst: Koncert Joshua Eustis i Kelly Moran; wraz z Orkiestrą Polskiego Radia Grają “Moich Themersonów’; logo 23 MDAG, kafle w różowych odcieniach“]
The music of Kelly Moran and Joshua Eustis organizes one of the most important dimensions of the cinematic experience in “My Themersons.” Where Moran leads the viewer toward immersion, Eustis restores resistance; where she reveals fragility, he introduces shadow, structure, and unease.
https://www.bilety24.pl/kup-bilet-na-682-joshua-eustis-i-kelly-moran-wraz-z-orkiestra-polskiego-radia-graja-moich-themersonow--152551?id=906987#overall
May 16, 20:30, Pardon, To Tu | EABS plays Sun Ra. Concert at MDAG 2026 | Ticket price: 99 PLN, available on book.mdag.pl
The music of EABS, like the work of Sun Ra, is intergalactic. It refers to cosmic spaces, which today—when Sun Ra is no longer with us—takes on an entirely new meaning. The concert during Millennium Docs Against Gravity is connected with the film “Sun Ra. A Joyful Noise” (dir. Christine Turner), which is part of this year’s festival program.
https://pardontotu.pl/event/eabs-plays-sun-ra-23-millennium-docs-against-gravity/?event_date=2026-05-16
Documentary Grand Prix FIPRESCI
[Grafika: niebieskie i zielone odcienie, rysunek starej kamery filmowej; tekst: DOCUMENTARY GRAND PRIX for THE BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM OF THE YEAR; logo Fipresci i Millennium Docs Against Gravity]
From this year on, MDAG has also become the home of a new, prestigious award—the Documentary Grand Prix FIPRESCI. Each year it will be awarded during the festival’s Opening Gala to the best film of the past year, selected by film critics from around the world. The screening of the film awarded the Documentary Grand Prix FIPRESCI will take place on Saturday, May 9 at 15:00 at Kinoteka. Tickets will be available on mdag.pl.
Festival director Artur Liebhart’s TOP 10
Artur Liebhart, founder and director of the festival, has prepared his TOP 10 films worth seeing during the 23rd MDAG.
“Bugboy”, dir. Lucas Paleocrassas
[Chłopiec w okularach patrzy na podświetlony słoik]
“Passion helps survive the hardest times”
More about the film:
Yorgos, the main character of “Bugboy,” is a shy teenager with a visual impairment. He finds courage through a bond with a cricket named Isabella. The film combines realism with a metaphorical fairy tale, presenting a lesson in friendship, trust, and coming of age.
“Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird)”, dir. Anna Fitch, Banker White
“As the title says.”
More about the film:
After her friend’s death, Anna recreates her house at a 1:3 scale for a marionette of the same name over a decade. The film intertwines the last year of Yo’s life with a creative interpretation of her story, showing the power of memory, love, and artistic creation.
“Closure”, dir. Michał Marczak
[Zmartwiona twarz mężczyzny w ciemnozielonej koszulce, patrzy w dal; za nim panorama rzeki]
“We search the longest for what we have lost within ourselves.”
More about the film:
Daniel did not hear his son Krzysiek leaving the house and going to the bridge, where he was last seen. The camera captured him, and then he disappeared: he either jumped into the river or walked off the bridge. Since then, Daniel and his wife have lived suspended between hope and fear.
“My Word Against Mine”, dir. Maasja Ooms
“Therapy can be fascinating.”
More about the film:
One in ten people hears voices. The film presents five individuals and their voices—protective or threatening. A revolutionary therapy allows them to gain self-acceptance and confront trauma, creating a fascinating portrait of the extraordinary world of the human mind.
“Love-22-Love”, dir. Jeroen Kooijmans
[Zbliżenie na twarze mężczyzny i kobiety, jadą przez teren zielony, za nimi niebo]
“Art + love = beauty.”
More about the film:
Jeroen Kooijmans documents 30 years filled with love, creation, and mental crises. It is a poetic tribute to his wife and a cinematic diary—a love letter full of art.
“Melt”, dir. Nikolaus Geyrhalter
[Zdjęcie lodowej groty od wewnątrz, sufit niczym kaskada świateł; w oddali widać morze i grupę ludzi idących przez plażę]
“Where snow and ice still rule, happy people live.”
More about the film:
Nikolaus Geyrhalter takes the viewer on a journey through snowy and icy landscapes of Japan, Canada, Iceland, the Alps, and Antarctica. The film balances between awe at this world and melancholy over its loss, showing environmental changes and thousands of forms of snow and ice.
“Ghost Elephants”, dir. Werner Herzog
[Czarno-białe zdjęcie stada słoni przemierzających las przez mgłę]
“Herzog is on the trail again. But this time…”
More about the film:
Mad scientists and explorers—these are the heroes of Werner Herzog’s films. This time, the director focuses on Dr. Steve Boyes, who tracks giant elephants in Angola, in uninhabited territories called by locals “the end of the world.”
“Wax & Gold”, dir. Ruth Beckermann
[Zdjęcie z zoo; mężczyzna stoi obok klatki, w której lew leży na ziemi; w oddali widać inne klatki i drzewa]
“One hotel, the power of youthful fascination, and Kapuściński”
More about the film:
A stay at the legendary Hilton in Addis Ababa and Kapuściński’s “The Emperor” become the starting point for a multilayered story about Ethiopia’s imperial past, present, and the hidden poetic meanings that connect them.
“Mariinka”, dir. Pieter-Jan de Pue
“An epic story filmed over 11 years. Outstanding.”
More about the film:
“Mariinka” begins long before the full-scale Russian invasion. In eastern Ukraine, we follow the lives of several young Ukrainians whose lives have been shaped forever by more than a decade of war and conflict in Donbas.
“At the Source of Light – 11 Songs for Fiji”, dir. Cynthia Beatt
“A return to one’s inner source”
More about the film:
After years spent in Scotland, Iona returns to her family home in Fiji, seeking answers about her sense of alienation in Europe. Will her alter ego, embodied by Tilda Swinton, find them?
This year, Artur Liebhart has also selected, in his opinion, the most interesting titles from the THE BEST OF MDAG section—documentary films presented at MDAG in previous years that won the hearts of audiences.
“Letter to the Editor”, dir. Alan Berliner
[Zdjęcie ze starej gazety; mężczyzna spogląda w kamerę zza okna, w ręku trzyma gazetę; obok niego stosy gazet związanych sznurkiem]
“A mourning hymn for the printed press through 7,076 images.”
More about the film:
Built from photographs from “The New York Times,” the film is Alan Berliner’s personal reflection and an elegy for the printed newspaper. The collage combines seriousness with visual fantasy, reflecting on the passage of time, aging, and change in the digital era.
“Jane’s Journey”, dir. Lorenz Knauer
[Zdjęcie starszej kobiety z rękami założonymi do tyłu; ma na sobie jasne ubranie; naokoło niej drzewa, rośliny, w tle wodospad]
“Jane Goodall - a remarkable figure, guest of our festival in 2011.”
More about the film:
Jane Goodall - the renowned chimpanzee researcher and environmental activist—spent over 20 years traveling the world, spreading hope for protecting the planet. The film follows her mission, showing archival footage from her life and groundbreaking research in Gombe National Park.
“Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers”, dir. Erik Gandini
“Why did we stop questioning the system? Ask the director after the screening.”
More about the film:
A film about consumerism that moved audiences worldwide. Using the language of music videos, propaganda, and advertising, it asks questions about happiness, emptiness, and alternatives to global capitalism. At the center—a controversial philosopher, John Zerzan.
MDAG is for everyone!
The Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival is accessible to all! This year, thanks to the support of the Visa brand, all films in the Main Competition will include audio description in the Kino Dostępne 2.0 app. MDAG is one of the first film festivals in the world to take such a major step toward accessibility.
As one of the first film festivals, MDAG ensures that all Main Competition films are available with audio description (AD). At least one screening of each will also include subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH). Additionally, 14 films in the program will be available with a Polish voice-over track, and post-screening events will be translated into Polish Sign Language (PJM).
The festival also offers assistance in reaching screenings, purchasing tickets, and early boarding, meaning earlier entry to the venue and the opportunity to take a seat calmly.
For accessibility matters, please contact the coordinator, Julia Kosińska:
SMS / tel. +48 579 754 101
e-mail: julia@againstgravity.pl
The 23rd edition of MDAG will take place from May 8 to 17, 2026 in cinemas in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Łódź, and from May 19 to June 1 online at mdag.pl! The title sponsor of the event is Bank Millennium (https://www.bankmillennium.pl/).
