The next edition of the festival is approaching with ever greater strides and, while everyone’s attention – quite rightly – is focused on the films in this year’s program, I would like to focus for a moment on the accompanying events. Every year we complement our film selection with a program of discussions and special events that allow us to stay with the films longer, understand them a little more deeply, and sometimes see them from a different, new perspective. In the spirit of this year’s festival slogan, I invite you to eventful explorations – everyone will find something for themselves in this program.
– says Barbara Wrona, who coordinates the festival’s accompanying events.
The 23rd MDAG will take place from May 8 to May 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 gathered over 181 thousand viewers in 2025.
Talks and discussions
The discussions that will take place this year at MDAG are extremely diverse in terms of subject matter and cover issues ranging from social and political topics, through culture and art, to psychological experiences and relationships.
Frame from the film “Everybody on Kenmure Street”, dir. Felipe Bustos Sierra
[A crowd of people protesting in front of a building]
One of the topics will be various forms of civic resistance and care. The Amnesty International discussion after the film “Everybody on Kenmure Street” will concern practices of civil disobedience in Western democratic societies, but also east of Poland – in authoritarian Belarus. The topic of intensifying authoritarian tendencies will also appear in the discussion “Forbidden literature. Freedom of speech in times of authoritarianism” by the Polish PEN Club, where the starting point for a conversation about censorship and human rights will be the film “The Librarians”.
The MINT Magazine discussion after the film “Siri Hustvedt – Dance Around the Self” will concern the work of this American writer, who came to New York to find the heroine of her first novel and confront her own ideas about love. After the screening of the film “Hex”, a discussion by Okultura Publishing will take place, which will look at the phenomenon of contemporary witches and consider whether it is a new face of rebellion.
Frame from the film “Hex”, dir. Maja Holand
[A woman dressed in a long white dress, with a sword in her hand, stands on a mountain clearing and raises the sword toward the sky]
The WWF Poland discussion, on the other hand, will turn the audience’s attention toward nature. After the film “Ghost Elephants” by Werner Herzog, we will talk about the locality of experiencing nature and reflect on the role and duty of humans in the natural world.
A historical look at documentary film will be present during the event organized by the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute “Documents of Times of Transition”. The discussion will take place after the screening of three titles that have been included on the Polish Film Heritage List: “People from an Empty Area”, “Talking Heads”, “Bara bara”.
This year, psychological, identity-related and relational topics also occupy a special place in the program. This year’s edition of Filmotherapy will focus on the temptations of spiritual healing. Starting from the film “Supernatural”, the discussion will remain within the themes of myths and hopes of energy healing and the traps of self-development and therapeutic culture. The meeting after the film “La belle anne”, organized by the Sistrum Association as part of the LES*WEDNESDAYS series, will be devoted to sapphic experiences and reclaiming lesbian memory through absences, silences and omissions. Meanwhile, the Fathers.pl discussion “It’s not that only you ask, dad” will look at the process of building and “polishing” a relationship – full of tensions, tenderness and attempts at mutual understanding – the father-son relationship.
Frame from the film “Supernatural”, dir. Ventura Durall
[A close-up of an adult man who aims a bow at a target]
DocStudio
This year, MDAG also invites you to a series of meetings at the Studio bar – one of our festival clubs. It is a series of open, free events expanding the themes addressed in this year’s films.
The program will open with a conversation between film critic Murtada Elfadl and directors whose films will be presented during this year’s edition of the festival: Michał Marczak and Alain Arnaud. The meeting will be devoted to the issue of emotional realism in documentary film (the conversation will be held in English).
The next meeting in the series will be a discussion panel on the relationship between humans and animals in the context of film and photography, co-organized with Fotofestiwal, which will take place after the screening of the short film “Amma, Do Giraffes Cry?”.
Frame from the film “Amma, Do Giraffes Cry?”, dir. Kartikeya Saxena
[A panorama of the monkey enclosure in a zoo]
The series concludes with a meeting with Amnesty International: “Civil disobedience – a practical guide. About protest in practice, about our rights and obligations" – Anna Matras, lawyer and activist, legal analyst at Amnesty International Poland, nominated for the Equality Crown 2024 for her activist work.
Special events
The program will also include events that go beyond the traditional film screening and invite a more sensory, communal experience of cinema. The premiere of the film “Whispers in The Woods” will be accompanied by a lecture and a scent composition prepared by Alba1913, which together will create a unique, multisensory experience and allow entry into the world of the film in a more immersive way.
Frame from the film “Whispers in The Woods”, dir. Vincent Munier
[An older man stands in the middle of the forest and stares into the distance]
At the Planetarium in the Copernicus Science Centre, there will be a screening of the film “Shifting Baselines”, which shows the consequences of “space fever” and poses a fundamental question: do visions of conquering space really lead to a better future, or are they merely an expression of mad ambitions that may lead humanity to catastrophe? After the screening, there will be a meeting with the director.
A vinyl DJ set on the steps of Kinoteka will precede the morning screening of the film “A Century in Sound”, introducing its world of analog sounds and Japanese “ongaku kissa” culture. The meeting, organized in cooperation with MoyaMatcha, will be an invitation to listen to music together. People who purchase a ticket for the related screening will receive a free drink.
Frame from the film “A Century in Sound", dir. Nicholas Dwyer, Tu Neill
[An older woman smiles at the camera, surrounded by sound equipment and shelves full of vinyl records]
This year, MDAG also returns with screenings in the original PURO – Film to Table format, which combines a film screening with a unique culinary experience. At the MUND restaurant, after the screening, we invite you to a dinner inspired by the film “The Fifth Season”, a story about five outstanding Italian female chefs, whose philosophy will become the starting point for this event.
This year’s edition will also include screenings for caregivers with children. The “With a toddler at MDAG” screenings are aimed at parents and caregivers with infants and children up to 4 years old and take place in conditions adapted to their needs – with gentle lighting and reduced sound, in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. In turn, together with the State Ethnographic Museum, we invite you to a special screening for caregivers with children. While adults will watch the film “Runa Simi”, children will take part in parallel creative workshops inspired by the film’s theme.
Frame from the film “Runa Simi”, dir. Augusto Zegarra
[A father and son sit in a recording studio and record something using equipment]
The 23rd edition of MDAG will take place from May 8 to May 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 partner of the event is Bank Millennium (https://www.bankmillennium.pl/).
