The 23rd MDAG in a nutshell! The first part of the MDAG Festival Studio is now available
There is less than a month left until the 23rd MDAG. Everything you need to know about this year’s edition of the festival, including information about the program, competitions, festival novelties, accompanying events and accessibility, can be found in the first episode of the MDAG Festival Studio, which is now available on the festival’s website mdag.pl as well as on Facebook and the Millennium Docs Against Gravity YouTube channel. The Studio features MDAG programmers, who talked about the main competitions and also revealed that the festival’s opening film will be “Bez końca” (Closure) by Michał Marczak.
As part of the Main Competition, this year for the first time the Best Editing Award, the Best Cinematography Award and the award of the International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI will be granted.
This year’s festival slogan is “Searchings”. On the one hand, it refers to the work of creators, who are constantly searching for the best ways to tell stories about reality. On the other – to the festival audience, who look in the festival program for knowledge, inspiration and tools to understand the world. Together, we are also searching for something more: understanding and shared values, in times of polarization and uncertainty.
The face of this year’s poster is Soraya Akhalaghi – protagonist, cinematographer and co-director of the film “Lis i różowy księżyc” (A Fox Under A Pink Moon, dir. Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhalaghi). Soraya is an Afghan multidisciplinary artist, mainly creating paintings and sculptures. For five years she made arduous attempts to leave Iran for Europe. At the same time, she was trapped in a marriage with an abusive husband, whom she was forced to marry as a child. Currently, Soraya is staying in a refugee camp in Germany. In the film, she says that she would like to find a home where she can create and develop without fear. “Lis i różowy księżyc” won the main award at the IDFA festival in Amsterdam.
The 23rd MDAG will take place from May 8 to 17, 2026 in cinemas in 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 Polish film festival and the second largest documentary film festival in Europe, which in 2025 gathered over 181 thousand viewers.
Opening Gala of the 23rd MDAG
The opening film of the 23rd edition of MDAG will be “Bez końca” (Closure) directed by Michał Marczak. It is a moving story about the journey taken by Krzysztof Dymiński’s father, Daniel. After his son’s disappearance, remaining suspended between hope and uncertainty, he began his own endless search. The film will take part in the Main Competition and the Polish Competition. “Bez końca” also belongs to a new section in the MDAG program: In the name of father and son.
A limited pool of tickets for the Opening Gala at the price of 50 PLN is available on the website book.mdag.pl
BUY A TICKET FOR THE OPENING GALA
Event accessibility: the film in Polish with English subtitles, SDH subtitles and audio description available in the Kino Dostępne 2.0 application. The ceremony will be translated into Polish Sign Language.
From this year, MDAG has also become the home of a new, prestigious award – the Documentary Grand Prix FIPRESCI. Every year it will be awarded during the festival’s Opening Gala to the best film of the previous year selected in a vote 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.
The nominated films are: “2000 Meters to Andriivka", dir. Mstyslav Chernov, “Fiume o morte!”, dir. Igor Bezinović, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin", dir. David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, “Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5”, dir. Raoul Peck and “The Perfect Neighbour", dir. Geeta Gandbhir
Essential information about the 23rd MDAG
In just 10 days, on April 23, the full program of the 23rd MDAG and the screening schedule will appear on the website. On the same day, ticket sales for individual screenings will start on mdag.pl.
In addition to tickets for the festival’s Opening Gala, tickets for two concerts are already available. On May 13, Joshua Eustis and Kelly Moran together with the Polish Radio Orchestra at the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio will perform a concert of music from the film “Moi Themersonowie”, dir. Marcin Borchardt.
BUY A TICKET GOT JOSHUA EUSTIS'S AND KELLY MORAN'S CONCERT
On May 16, the band EABS will perform at Pardon, To Tu. The band’s album “Discipline of Sun Ra”, released in 2020, pays tribute to the creator of Afrofuturism. The concert is connected with the film “Sun Ra. Wizja staje się dźwiękiem” (dir. Christine Turner), which is part of this year’s program. Tickets for the concert are available on the Pardon, To Tu website.
BUY A TICKET FOR EABS'S CONCERT
During the festival, many events await viewers, but it could not take place without two key elements: MDAG Industry (May 7–11) and MDAG Vision (May 8–17). Both will take place at the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw. On May 14, the 23rd MDAG Awards Gala will take place in Warsaw. After the end of the in-person part of the festival, from May 19 to June 1, viewers will be able to continue enjoying documentary cinema online at vod.mdag.pl.
Screening schedule, start of ticket sales and program of the 23rd MDAG – April 23rd
MDAG Industry – May 7th–11th, State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw
MDAG Vision – May 8th–17th, State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw
Awards Gala – May 14th, Warsaw
23rd MDAG online – May 19th–June 1st
The 23rd MDAG will take place in seven cities: Warsaw (Kinoteka, Kino Luna, Kino Atlantic, Kino Iluzjon, Kino Muranów, KINOMUZEUM, State Ethnographic Museum), Wrocław (Lower Silesian Film Centre), Gdynia (Gdynia Film Centre), Poznań (Kino Muza), Katowice (Kino Światowid), Bydgoszcz (Kino Orzeł) and Łódź (National Centre for Film Culture).
MDAG is for everyone!
The Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival has been working for accessible cinema for several years. This year, every effort has been made to ensure that everyone can fully enjoy documentary cinema.
During the 23rd MDAG, screenings of a record number of films with audio description (AD) in the Kino Dostępne 2.0 application will take place. Each of them will be shown at least once with subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH). Some events will be translated into Polish Sign Language.
These are not the only steps MDAG has taken this year towards accessibility. Selected foreign-language films are available with a Polish voice-over track.
Accessibility coordinator: Julia Kosińska
e-mail: julia@againstgravity.pl | tel. 579 754 101
Moreover, this year for the first time, content warnings will appear on the mdag.pl website in film descriptions. Noise-cancelling headphones will be available in festival centers. During the festival, a free Wellbee mental health support helpline will operate, and its specialists also conducted anti-discrimination training for the MDAG team and volunteers.
The festival also takes into account accessibility related to the venues themselves. MDAG offers the possibility to reserve tickets and seats in the auditorium, an early boarding service for people with disabilities, and passes for assistants. It is also possible to use assistance in getting to screenings, including from a stop or parking lot.
Guides to festival locations with information including architectural accessibility will be available for those interested.
Accessibility partners: Visa brand, City of Warsaw, PISF, Culture Without Barriers Foundation, Kino Dostępne Foundation and Wellbee. More information can be found in the Accessibility tab on the festival website.
Partners without whom the festival could not take place
Artur Liebhart, director and founder of MDAG, during the Festival Studio warmly thanked the festival’s title sponsor, Bank Millennium, as well as the festival’s partners and patrons, without whom the festival could not operate as dynamically as it does today. A recording for the studio was sent by Aldona Machnowska-Góra, Deputy Mayor of the City of Warsaw, and a letter from Iwona Jarzębska, Director of the Public Relations Department at Bank Millennium, was read.
It is an honor for us to cooperate with a festival that increases its impact and reach every year. Millennium Docs Against Gravity has been proving its value for years, consistently addressing the most difficult topics in the best films from around the world. We proudly observe its development, its joining the group of Oscar®-qualifying festivals, further distinctions, including such an important PISF award for accessibility, growing attendance and increasing importance in the international debate. This is an event that truly shapes sensitivity and broadens viewers’ perspectives. As Bank Millennium, we value the festival’s mission, because it corresponds to values important to us as well: care for the environment, social responsibility and supporting dialogue – emphasizes Iwona Jarzębska, president of the Bank Millennium Foundation and director of the Public Relations Department at Bank Millennium. – wrote Iwona Jarzębska.
The sale of passes and accreditations for the 23rd MDAG is ongoing
Passes as well as media and industry accreditations for the 23rd edition of MDAG in Warsaw can be purchased at book.mdag.pl. Sales will last until May 1 or until the pool is exhausted.
Passes can be purchased at the price of 350 PLN at: https://book.mdag.pl/pl/karnety. All useful information about how they work can be found here: https://book.mdag.pl/pl/strona/jak-dziala-twoj-karnet. The pass is a gateway to a film feast, which this year will consist of over 170 highest-quality documentary productions from around the world.
All people working in the media and in the film industry are encouraged to purchase media or industry accreditation. To obtain it, please fill in the form at: https://book.mdag.pl/pl/akredytacje. The cost of accreditation is 270 PLN. Within a few days of submitting the application, we will inform about granting the accreditation. All useful information can be found on the website: https://book.mdag.pl/pl/strona/jak-dziala-twoja-akredytacja.
BUY A MEDIA OR INDUSTRY ACCREDITATION
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 ().
