The uniqueness of documentary films lies in the fact that the screening doesn’t end when the credits roll. It is an experience that stays in our minds. The protagonists stay with us; we see ourselves reflected in their stories and get to know their perspectives. Through this extraordinary relationship, they become close to us. At MDAG, we are committed to building a community between creators and audiences. Post-screening Q&As, masterclasses, or a coffee at Kulturalna provide a space for conversation and the shared experience of documentary cinema. Closer to each other.
Aleksandra Czerwonka
Press Office of the 23rd MDAG
[A meeting with the audience after the screening of the movie ,, Death Candidates".]
Highlights:
Tomorrow, May 11, at 10:00 AM at the Ethnographic Museum: Alan Berliner’s Masterclass – "How a Filmmaker Thinks." The essayist will take us on a journey through the sounds, images, themes, and narrative strategies that have defined his filmmaking for over four decades.
Admission free!
Today, May 10, 2:00 PM, Kino Muranów, Gerard Room: Screening of "The Fox and the Pink Moon" followed by a Q&A with protagonist and co-director Soraya Akhalaghi.
Today, May 10, 6:00 PM, KinoMuzeum MSN: Screening of "Freak Show" followed by a Q&A with the protagonists, Babcia and Agata Wąsik.
Tomorrow, May 11, 12:00 PM, Kinoteka 1: Screening of "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk" followed by an educational meeting with Dr. Dominika Blachnicka-Ciacek.
Tomorrow, May 11, 6:00 PM, Kinoteka 3: Screening of "Eva – The Last Lesson" followed by a Q&A with directors Andrea Mura and Federico Savonitto, and protagonist Ewa Benesz.
Tomorrow, May 11, 7:00 PM, Planetarium, Copernicus Science Centre: A unique planetarium screening of "Shifting Baselines" followed by a Q&A with director Julien Elie.
SUNDAY
Sunday, May 10 | 2:00 PM | KINOMUZEUM (MSN) | Screening of "Please Do Not Sit" + Q&A with Wojciech Plewiński (subject), Piotr Małecki (director), and Katarzyna Sagatowska (film concept)
Renowned photographer Wojciech Plewiński is preparing a new exhibition by retracing the footsteps of his life's work. Joined by his wife Anna, his son Maciek, and curator Katarzyna Sagatowska, he journeys to iconic locations such as Teatr Studio, Nowa Huta, and the Biebrza River. This pilgrimage serves as a catalyst for reflection, artistic analysis, and a raw confrontation with the past. While these family travels involve difficult reckonings, the time spent together ultimately allows them to forge deeper, renewed bonds.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Wojciech Plewiński, Piotr Małecki, and Katarzyna Sagatowska.
Tickets
Sunday, May 10 | 2:45 PM | KINOTEKA 2 | Screening of "Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story" + Q&A with director Sinead O’Shea
"Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story" offers an intimate portrait of one of the most significant Irish writers of the 20th century. The film traces her extraordinary career: from her controversial debut novel The Country Girls, which caused a scandal in conservative Ireland in 1960, through a life defined by success, romance, and luxury, as well as personal loss. Drawing on O’Brien’s personal journals – read by Oscar® nominee Jessie Buckley – and featuring insights from writers like Gabriel Byrne and Walter Mosley, the film provides a candid and moving testimony to her life.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Sinead O’Shea.
Tickets
[A black-and-white portrait of a woman with a bob, holding a lit cigarette and looking up thoughtfully.]
Sunday, May 10 | 3:00 PM | KINOTEKA 7 | Screening of "Nuisance Bear" + Q&A with Jack Weiseman (Director) and Gabriela Osio Vanden (Director)
A polar bear is forced to navigate a world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters in a small Canadian town. Often seen as a nuisance, the bear becomes a catalyst for questioning who truly belongs in this shared landscape. Churchill, Manitoba – affectionately known as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World" – serves as the backdrop for a film that captures the tense coexistence between humans and bears. Narrated through the eyes of an Inuit observer whose insights defy easy conclusions, the film subverts traditional nature documentary tropes. By choosing confrontation over moralizing, it forces the audience to rethink the role of wildlife as a mere spectacle.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with directors Jack Weiseman and Gabriela Osio Vanden.
The film is available with Audio Description (AD) and Polish voice-over. Screenings with Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) are also available.
For a full list of events and more details, please visit our Accessibility tab.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out:
SMS / Tel: +48 579 754 101
Email: julia@againstgravity.pl
Tickets
[A polar bear's head emerges vertically from the water, staring motionless directly into the camera.]
Sunday, May 10 | 4:15 PM | Cinema Muranów (Gerard Hall) | Screening of "Underland" + Q&A with director Rob Petit
There are more stories buried beneath the Earth's surface than could ever fit inside the tallest skyscrapers humanity has ever built. Long after those structures crumble and our species vanishes, the records etched into the underground may be the only trace of our existence. What can the Earth's hidden wonders tell us about our origins and our future? This film is more than just a journey; it is a spine-tingling experience that highlights the fleeting nature of human life compared to a world measured in eons and epochs. The narrative weaves together the paths of three explorers: Mexican archaeologist Fatima Tec Pool, Radley Garrett, and Mariangela Lisanti.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Rob Petit.
Tickets
[A lone figure stands on a small, sunlit islet inside a massive, dark cave featuring an underground lake and hanging tree roots.]
Sunday, May 10 | 6:00 PM | KINOTEKA 1 | Screening of "Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough" + Q&A with director Paul Sng and subject Irvine Welsh
This film presents the author of Trainspotting as just as sharp, hilarious, and unapologetic today as he was during his childhood in Leith – from his rise to fame to his globetrotting travels and hallucinogenic adventures in Canada. Refreshingly, it avoids the typical focus on "writing craft" or the self-important posturing often seen in less talented authors. Instead, it portrays Welsh as a man whose passion for music and sports stands on equal footing with literature. This is a portrait of a writer fully aware of his own mortality, embracing the passage of time and remaining ever-open to carving out new paths.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Paul Sng and Irvine Welsh.
Tickets
Sunday, May 10 | 8:30 PM | Cinema Luna (Hall A) | Screening of "Supernatural" + Film Therapy discussion: The temptation of spiritual healing
André Malby was a famous, charismatic shaman and spiritual healer – a womanizer and hedonist who many believed possessed supernatural healing powers. His son, Mathurin "Mathu" Malby, is a rational doctor who shares none of these beliefs and has become his father's polar opposite. This precarious balance begins to shift when Anna, a well-known Spanish actress, convinces him that his father telepathically saved her life. This encounter forces Mathu to confront his father's legacy, deep-seated family trauma, and his own convictions, drawing him into a space where faith, magic, and science collide. Filmed over several years, the movie blurs the lines of traditional documentary filmmaking, balancing raw observation with intimate participation.
The screening will be followed by a discussion featuring psychologists and psychotherapists, including Agnieszka Łabędzka, a cognitive-behavioral therapist and Wellbee expert. The talk will be moderated by Martyna Harland, psychologist and founder of the Filmoterapia.pl project.
Tickets
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
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/).
