The first weekend of the festival is officially in the books, but our energy is far from fading – we’re kicking off the second week of the 23rd MDAG with a bang. It’s always a unique moment as the turn of the week marks both an end and a beginning. MDAG Industry, the professional section of our festival, is drawing to a close. Yesterday’s MDAG Industry Awards Gala saw the announcement of the winning projects; we’ve discovered incredible work from talented creators, and we hope to see these films in our official program very soon.
With the new week comes a fresh wave of guests who you’ll have the chance to meet during upcoming Q&As and panel discussions. If you’re not a fan of Mondays, you can escape the world in a plush cinema seat or stretch out on a comfortable deckchair in front of Kinoteka. Meanwhile, the MDAG Vision XR exhibition continues at the National Museum of Ethnography, using cutting-edge technology to let you experience what the future holds. This Saturday and Sunday, you can also join the collective experience "Ancestors" – sign up for free here.
Whether the start of the week brings you a surge of new energy or the need for some serious recovery, you’re bound to find a film today that resonates with you perfectly.
Meanwhile, here are the awards presented during the MDAG Industry Gala:
“4 pitch sessions, 50 projects, over 350 one-on-one meetings - these all came together to shape this year’s MDAG Industry! We thank all participants, partners, mentors, experts, decision-makers, and the audience. This year’s edition brought forward stories that are too rarely heard, yet have the power to shift perspectives and expand our shared experience. We believe the projects presented within MDAG Industry will be bold, moving, and uncompromising, and will find their way to audiences around the world”, says Anna Szczypińska, Head of MDAG Industry.
7th Young Audiences Documentary Film Forum
Organiser: The Wajda Film Centre
Awards:
Cash Prize of 7,000 PLN for the best project from Millennium Docs Against Gravity – THE ORCHID QUEST, reż. Florian Rudolph
Cash Prize of 7,000 PLN for the best project from LET’S DOC Festival –
ALMOST AT HOME dir. Aleksandra Kubisa
Cash Prize of 5,000 PLN for the best project from the Polish Filmmakers Association –
WHERE THE FOREST ENDS, dir. Mateusz Buława
Short Pitch Program
Organisers: Millennium Docs Against Gravity, Institute of Documentary Film
Awards:
Polish Filmmakers Association Award – a cash prize of 5,000 PLN – BELL BOY, dir. and prod. Akseli Leppänen
EAST DOC AWARD – awarded by the Institute of Documentary Film – specialist consultations on the rough cut and a tailored festival distribution strategy – BELL BOY, dir. & prod. Akseli Leppänen
DAE AWARD – award presented by the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) – an individual consultation session with an experienced DAE consultant – NAPLES, FLORIDA, dir. Modesta Žemgulytė, prod. Akvilė Žilionytė-Khan (Artišokai)
RISING PRODUCER AWARD – award presented by the Polish Producers Alliance (KIPA) – an individual mentoring programme led by an experienced industry specialist – KYIV UNDER MY WHEELS, dir. Marina Baibarza, prod. Marina Baibarza (Process Films)
Progress Pitching Session
Awards:
CANAL+ Polska Award – Grand Prize of €3,000 – THE LAWYER, dir. Maciej Bochniak, prod. Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Kinga Tasarek (Madants)
Polish Filmmakers Association Award – a cash prize of 10 000 PLN – THE LAWYER, dir. Maciej Bochniak, prod. Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Kinga Tasarek (Madants)
SMAKJAM Award – colour grading services worth 15,000 PLN – CHILDREN OF THE BLACK GARDEN, dir. Łukasz Kowalski, prod. Anna Mazerant, Łukasz Kowalski (4.30 Studio)
SoundMind Award – sound post-production services worth PLN 10,000 – THE LAWYER, dir. Maciej Bochniak, prod. Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Kinga Tasarek (Madants)
The Jacob Burns Film Center Award – an artist-in-residence programme at The Jacob Burns Film Center (Pleasantville, NY) – THE DIARY OF EXPERIENCES, dir. Dorota Roś, prod. Zofia Kujawska (Telemark)
VISIONI DAL MONDO Award – accreditation and participation of the project in the Visioni dal Mondo pitching session in Milan – NO MOTHER'S LAND, dir. Wiktoria Szymanska-Davis, prod. Monika Braid (Braidmade Films), Wiktoria Davis, Sonja Henrici
MDAG Industry is organized in collaboration with CANAL+ Polska.
The section is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
The partners of MDAG Industry are: Polish Filmmakers Association, Polish Producers Alliance, Andrzej Wajda Centre For Film Culture, CPH:DOX, Institute of Documentary Film, EAVE, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Visioni dal Mondo, SoundMind, SMAKJAM, DOCA, Doc Alliance, Doc Alliance Network of Markets, The Jacob Burns Film Center, Culture Without Barriers Foundation, Katarynka Foundation, Forum Without Barriers, Screenplay Atelier, State Ethnographic Museum, Arthouse Cinemas Association, Embassy of Sweden.
Piotr Aleksandrow
Press Office, 23rd MDAG
MONDAY
Monday, May 11 | 12:00 PM | KINOTEKA 1 | Screening of "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk" + educational meeting
Fatma Hassouna – a 24-year-old Palestinian photojournalist – was killed along with seven family members on April 15, 2025, in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment of her home. The film records a year of her life, captured through video calls collected by the director via mobile phone.
The educational meeting will be led by Dr. Dominika Blachnicka-Ciacek – a migration anthropologist, visual sociologist, former human rights observer, and Polish coordinator of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
Tickets
Monday, May 11 | 6:00 PM | KINOTEKA 7 | Screening of "Mariinka" + Q&A with the director and protagonist
During the war in Ukraine, a promising boxer becomes a paramedic, while a young woman works as a courier, smuggling goods across the front lines. In a turn reminiscent of a Greek tragedy, two brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict, while the youngest brother lives safely with a foster family in the United States. "Mariinka" begins long before the full-scale Russian invasion. In eastern Ukraine, we follow the lives of several young Ukrainians whose fates have been forever shaped by over a decade of war and conflict in Donbas.
After the screening we will host a Q&A with the director Pieter-Jan de Pue and the protagonist.
Tickets
[A woman sitting on a burnt car during a sunset.]
Monday, May 11 | 7:00 PM | PLANETARIUM | Screening of "Shifting Baselines" in the Planetarium + Q&A with the director
In Boca Chica, where the Rio Grande meets the sea, the dunes attract rare seabirds and the last wild ocelots in the United States. However, marshes have been drained, beaches closed, and homes bought out to make room for a new SpaceX launch facility. The film reveals the consequences of this "space fever," posing a fundamental question: do visions of space conquest truly lead to a better future, or are they merely an expression of reckless ambition that could lead humanity to catastrophe?
We invite you to a special screening at the Copernicus Science Centre Planetarium, followed by a Q&A with director Julien Elie.
Tickets
Monday, May 11 | 8:30 PM | KINOTEKA 3 | Screening of "Benita" + Q&A with the director
An intimate portrait of director Benita Raphan, who took her own life during the COVID-19 pandemic. She made several beautiful short films, exploring the link between mental health, innovation, and creativity. Alan Berliner patiently sifted through her personal archive—full of films, outtakes, notes, drawings, and photographs—and made a remarkable discovery that changed his perspective on Benita’s life, work, and death.
The film will be followed by a Q&A with director Alan Berliner.
Tickets
Monday, May 11 | 8:30 PM | ATLANTIC B | Screening of "Apolonia, Apolonia" + Q&A with the director
Apolonia Sokol grew up in the underground theater scene in Paris, leading a quintessentially bohemian life. Danish director Lea Glob first met her in 2009. For a long time, Apolonia struggled to find success as a painter, a task that proved incredibly difficult. Will the protagonist finally gain the recognition she deserves?
The film will be followed by a Q&A with director Lea Glob.
Tickets
[A woman in a white apron standing in her art studio.]
Tuesday
Tuesday, May 12th | 6:00 PM | KINOTEKA 4 | Screening of the film "The Librarians" + discussion: "Forbidden Literature. Freedom of Speech in an Age of Authoritarianism"
Partner: Polish PEN Club
A moving portrayal of contemporary America, reminiscent of a dystopia straight out of "Fahrenheit 451." Librarians from small towns across the US become defenders of democracy, risking their jobs and safety to defend freedom of speech and access to knowledge.
The film will be followed by a discussion with Agnieszka Graff and Tacina Niadbaj. During the discussion, we will consider whether the American situation depicted in the film "The Librarians" and in the geographically closer Belarus threatens freedom of speech and access to literature in Europe and Poland.
Agnieszka Graff – Polish writer, translator, and journalist associated with the feminist movement, literary scholar, habilitated doctor of humanities, and professor at the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw. Author of the acclaimed book "A World Without Women."
Taciana Niadbaj – Belarusian poet, translator, and human rights activist. Chairwoman of the Council of the Belarusian House of Human Rights named after Barys Zvozskav and President of the Board of the Belarusian PEN.
Tickets
Tuesday, May 12th | 6:15 PM | KINOTEKA 3 | Screening of "Fyling Scents - Of Plants & People" + Q&A with the director
A cinematic journey into the world of invisible scents and chemical signals that govern plant life. A Swiss research team led by the distinguished neurobiologist and chemist Consuelo De Moraes is on the verge of discovering florigen – a substance responsible for the immediate flowering of plants. Columnist and researcher Florianne Koechlin uncovers the surprising "language" of scents, which allows plants to warn each other of threats or attract pollinators with extraordinary precision. How will these new discoveries impact delicate ecosystems, and can humans harness them without harming the shared world of plants, animals, and humans?
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Antshi von Moos (director).
Tickets
Tuesday, May 12th | 8:30 PM | KINOTEKA 3 | Screening of "Cooking Up Democracy" + Q&A with the director
While many democracies around the world are in crisis, Taiwan stands out for its resilience in the face of China's digital autocracy. Narrated by former Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang, the film portrays a dynamic community of Taiwanese activists: queer people, feminists, and social innovators co-creating a pluralistic vision of community. We meet Zo and Tiffany, who run their own tea shop, Grassland; Tongo and his mother, who are active in the LGBTQ+ group Hotline; Brian and Yo-Ling from Daybreak; and Yi-Chien and Shu-Wen, who fight for gender equality.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Monika Treut (director), Dirk Manthey (producer), Hui-Cheng Huang (producer), and Robert Falckenberg (cinematographer).
Tickets
[Two people walk along a sidewalk along a brick wall on a sunny day. A green belt and trees are visible to the left.]
Tuesday, May 12th | 6:00 PM | MURANÓW GERARD | Screening of "Not Made For Politics" + Q&A with the director
The film follows the lives of three Belarusian women: Sviatlana, Nadzeya, and Masha, whose husbands are political prisoners. Faced with Alexander Lukashenko's brutal regime, they have become the leading voices of protest and hope during the wave of protests that have gripped Belarus since 2020. Director Volia Chajkouskaya, herself living in exile in Estonia, combines a personal perspective with a collective narrative. Unable to return to her homeland, she becomes both narrator and witness to resistance, documenting solidarity actions and her own struggles with fear and exclusion. It is an intimate portrait of courage in the shadow of authoritarianism and patriarchal tyranny, and a reflection on how art and documentary film become acts of resistance when the world seems silent.
After the screening there will be a meeting with the director Volia Chajkouskaya.
Tickets
[Close-up of a woman with short hair looking up hopefully in a dense crowd on a sunny day.]
Tuesday, May 12th | 8:00 PM | ATLANTIC A | Screening of "Heart of Light - 11 Songs for Fiji" + Q&A with the director
After years spent in Scotland, Iona returns to her family home in Fiji, seeking answers to questions about her feelings of alienation in Europe. The film is a speculative autobiography, a hybrid of documentary and fiction. The director spent her youth in Fiji, and now her alter ego – Tilda Swinton – weaves together all the threads and levels of this film's story of homecoming, loss, and life lessons, often shot in places she remembers and which have changed significantly.
Tickets
Tuesday, May 12th | 6:00 PM | KINOMUZEUM MSN | Screening of "Elements of(f) Balance" + Q&A with the director and editor
In the face of global threats and ecological challenges, the film takes us on an extraordinary journey through ecosystems we may not have known before. It features scientists and farmers from diverse cultures, speaking different languages, who present a vision of cooperation and innovation. The film asks: Can ecological interdependence prevent us from a dystopian future? Stunning shots on land and water not only offer hope but also remind us why protecting and saving our planet is so crucial today.
Tickets
Tuesday, May 12th | 8:30 PM | KINOMUSEUM MSN | Screening of "Shifting Baselines" + Q&A with the director
Where the Rio Grande flows into the sea, sand dunes attract rare seabirds and the last wild ocelots in the United States. However, the marshes have been drained, beaches closed, and homes sold to make way for the new SpaceX launch facility. We observe how local communities in Boca Chica experience conflicting emotions: on the one hand, they admire the fascinating rocket launches and dreams of space exploration, and on the other, they witness the destruction of the natural environment and the disappearance of wildlife. The film depicts the dramatic contrast between technological progress and the fragility of the ecosystem, forcing us to reflect on the true cost of development.
Tickets
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 titular sponsor of the event is Bank Millennium (https://www.bankmillennium.pl/).
