Millennium Docs Against Gravity maintains its stable position among the most important and largest events dedicated to documentary art in the world. This is best evidenced by the number of people who took part in the 2026 festival. The 23rd edition attracted as many as 179,627 attendees. MDAG's social media reach proved to be record-breaking, reaching over 11.5 million people, alongside the festival's advertising value equivalent (AVE) amounting to PLN 42.6 million.
In 2027, the 24th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity will take place from May 7-16 in cinemas across seven cities, and from May 18-31 online at mdag.pl.
Festival Novelties in 2026
This year, for the first time in history, the prestigious FIPRESCI Documentary Grand Prix was awarded. The International Federation of Film Critics, together with MDAG, established the award to recognize the best documentary film of the previous year through a vote by journalists from around the world. The award will be presented annually during the Millennium Docs Against Gravity opening gala. The historic first winner was the film "Fiume o morte!" by Igor Bezinović.
During the 23rd edition, all films in the MDAG Main Competition featured audio description (AD) via the Kino Dostępne 2.0 application, and each of them was screened at least once with subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH). No Polish film festival in history (and no cinema event of this size in the world) has provided accessibility on such a scale. In addition events were translated into Polish Sign Language (PJM), sensitive content warnings were added to the festival website, assistance for people with disabilities was available, the crew and volunteers underwent anti-discrimination training and the Wellbee psychological support helpline operated throughout the festival.
This year's MDAG program was full of surprises, introducing new film sections dedicated to relationships, such as In the Name of the Father and the Son, as well as to the geopolitical situation, like All Eyes on Palestine. In cooperation with the DOC NYC festival, the New York, I love you, but… section was created, and as a tribute to the work of acclaimed directors, the Masters section appeared in the program.
During the festival, there were many unconventional events, concerts, and parties, as well as an exhibition of XR experiences – MDAG Vision. From May 7-11, 2026, the industry segment of the festival – MDAG Industry – also took place, drawing film industry representatives from all over the world to Warsaw.
MDAG 2026 Motto: "Looking"
The festival was held in a hybrid formula for the seventh time. The cinema part lasted from May 8 to 17 and attracted 108,853 people in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Łódź and Bydgoszcz. The online part took place on May 19 - June 1. 41,632 e-tickets were sold during it, but according to international standards (multiplier 1.7) it is estimated that as many as 70,774 people watched the films online. Thanks to the online part, the festival also reaches people outside the festival cities and those who, for various reasons - e.g. disabilities - cannot participate in stationary events. In total, 179,627 viewers took part in the 23rd edition of MDAG.
In addition to the Grand Prix - Bank Millennium Award, local awards in the Main Competition were also awarded in the festival cities: the Lower Silesia Grand Prix in Wrocław, the Mayor of Gdynia Award, the Freedom Award funded by the City of Poznań, the Silesian Voivodeship Audience Award in Katowice, and the Bydgoszcz Art.Doc Award. For the first time in the Main Competition, the FIPRESCI Award was also granted by a three-person jury composed of film critics.
Festival hits
During the 23rd edition of the MDAG festival, stories extremely close to the individual experience of the protagonists aroused the greatest interest. The main prize, the Grand Prix - Bank Millennium Award, was won by the film "To Hold a Mountain" (dir. Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić). It is an intimate portrait of a mother and her thirteen-year-old daughter who continue the family tradition of grazing animals on the Montenegrin Sinjajevina plateau. The film beautifully combines ecological reflection with a story about female strength and connection with nature. MDAG is on the list of Oscar® qualifying festivals in the Documentary Feature category, so its winner has an easier path to the most important award in the world of cinema.
One of the biggest Polish hits, which won the Audience Award in Warsaw, the Onet Big Screen Doc Award and the award for the Best Polish Film, turned out to be "Candidates of Death" directed by Maciej Cuske. It is an extraordinary story, filmed for over 15 years, of three boys who go on vacation every year to record amateur horror films. An honest and touching record of their growing up, dreams and the power of long-term friendship will appear in cinemas on August 7 in Against Gravity distribution.
The face of this year's festival, which appeared on the MDAG poster, was Soraya Akhlaghi, co-director and protagonist of the film "The Fox Under the Pink Moon", which was the most watched title of the second part of the festival and received the Online Audience Award.
The film "Closure" directed by Michał Marczak, which officially opened this year's edition of the festival, and earlier had its world premiere at the Sundance festival, also enjoyed huge interest. It is a poignant story of Daniel - a father who does not lose hope of finding his missing son. This visually stunning film won, among others, the Best Cinematography Award in the Main Competition and the Silesian Voivodeship Audience Award.
In turn, "Whispers in the Woods" (dir. Vincent Munier), awarded with the Green Warsaw Award for the best ecological film, invited the audience deep into the fairy-tale world of ancient French forests, becoming a universal tale about the intergenerational bond with nature.
"Creative looking, which were the motto of the 23rd MDAG, cannot be restricted in any way. At the festival we show films that are political, because cinema is political, but more importantly - it flows from the bottom of the hearts of its creators. We are glad that our wonderful audience is open to various topics, forms of expression and with their presence in the halls and discussions supports the courage of people who follow what is important to them. Thanks to this, filmmakers believe that they do not have to succumb to attempts at pressure or censorship. Together we create a community that is not afraid to raise uncomfortable topics and inspire changes in the reality surrounding us" - emphasizes Karol Piekarczyk, artistic director of MDAG.
Festival partners and communication
The titular patron of the festival is Bank Millennium, the festival was co-financed by: the Capital City of Warsaw, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Polish Film Institute, the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme, the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, as well as Visa and CANAL+ Polska brands. "MDAG has become an important and stable point of reference for world documentary cinema. Our long-term cooperation, in particular 21 joint years with Bank Millennium, is a signal also for other potential partners, whom we invite to joint activities. The popularity of the festival in the country and internationally, as evidenced by the prestigious FIPRESCI Documentary Grand Prix awarded from this year at our opening gala, is the merit of all MDAG cities, partners and media patrons, for which we sincerely thank you" - says Artur Liebhart, director and founder of MDAG.
Mateusz Góra, head of communication and press spokesman for the festival, drew attention to the festival's record reach: "Once again, MDAG is breaking records when it comes to the reach and effectiveness of its communication, to which the hard work and creativity of the entire team contributed, in particular Sara Wołczyńska, head of PR, and Anna Kawula from Kawula Studio, responsible for our festival social media. We managed to achieve an online communication reach of 13,959,505, in turn, 7,531 publications translated into a record advertising equivalent (AVE) of PLN 42,658,856.
We are glad that the audience is so active during the festival and not only returns to us every year, but also becomes more and more diverse. In a year when for the first time our entire Main Competition was available to people with disabilities, we were particularly pleased with the large presence in cinemas of people with special needs in the area of sight and hearing. Until now, such people often could not enjoy free access to the cinema. A huge merit in this goes to our wonderful accessibility coordinator, Julia Kosińska, who found her life passion in this role."
MDAG Industry - a place of development for the film industry
The fifth edition of MDAG Industry looks as follows in numbers: 5 days, 5 pitchings, 50 projects, over 350 1-on-1 meetings, 9 educational events, 3 masterclasses, 13 awards. It is a project of a unique event for the film industry, which connects Polish creators with foreign representatives of festivals, distributors, producers, sales agents and famous stars of contemporary cinema.
Warsaw and MDAG are becoming a place where the best projects from Poland, Eastern and Central Europe are presented, and participants are excellently prepared for talks and presentations before buyers, festivals and producers from the West. A total of 1745 people took part in the events (an increase of 12.4% compared to the previous year).
"This year, MDAG Industry clearly developed as a space for international co-productions: for the first time we launched MDAG CO-PRO, expanded the program with a larger number of foreign guests and significantly strengthened the educational offer for pitching participants - from additional tutors and individual consultations with sales agents to closed workshops that helped projects enter the next stage. This shows that today MDAG is not only a festival, but also a real place for industry meetings, cooperation and opening new doors for documentary film" - says Anna Szczypińska, head of MDAG Industry.
The 24th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity will take place on May 7-16 in cinemas in seven cities and May 18-31, 2027 online at mdag.pl. The titular patron of the event is Bank Millennium (https://www.bankmillennium.pl/).
