The jury line-ups of the 23rd edition of MDAG will include outstanding figures not only from the world of documentary cinema, but also from many other fields of culture, as well as activists fighting for a better future and equality. Films by many of the female and male jurors have been screened and awarded at previous editions of the festival. Some of them will be shown to audiences as part of The Best of MDAG section. We already know the jury line-ups and selected guests of the Warsaw edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity.
During the festival’s opening gala, the Documentary Grand Prix FIPRESCI will be awarded for the first time in history. This prestigious distinction will go to the Best Documentary Film of 2025. In total, as many as 23 awards will be presented this year across all festival cities in 19 competitions. The Warsaw juries consist of 30 members, including 19 women and 11 men.
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!
Main Competition Jury
[Photos of two female and one male juror of the Main Competition]
In the MDAG Main Competition, 12 films will compete this year for the Grand Prix – the Bank Millennium Award and €10,000! The award is funded by Bank Millennium. This year, the Main Competition will also include the Best Editing Award and the Best Cinematography Award, each worth €2,000. The prestigious International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award will also be presented for the first time.
Those who will sit on the Main Competition Jury know (documentary) cinema like no one else. Their work has been nominated for Oscars® and awarded at international film festivals, and they have been known to MDAG audiences for years. Here they are:
Jessica Hargrave is the producer of the Oscar®-nominated film Come See Me in the Good Light, which had its European premiere at the 22nd MDAG and received the Audience Award at the Sundance Festival. Her production Pamela: A Love Story was nominated for an Emmy®.
The Main Competition Jury will also include the director of Apolonia, Apolonia, awarded at IDFA and in the Main Competition of the 20th MDAG – Lea Glob. Her debut feature Olmo and the Seagull received the Young Jury’s Award at the Locarno International Film Festival. The director will meet the festival audience after the screening of Apolonia, Apolonia, presented as part of The Best of MDAG section.
Festival audiences already know him as the screenwriter of Hollywoodgate. During the 20th MDAG, the Main Competition Jury awarded a special mention to Under the Sky of Damascus, which he co-directed. Talal Derki is an Oscar®-nominated Syrian director and producer for Of Fathers and Sons.
The FIPRESCI Award in the Main Competition will be granted by a three-member jury composed of:
Bartolomé Armentano, a film journalist writing for the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone and the Spanish magazine Rockdelux;
Igor Angjelkov, a Macedonian writer and journalist, editor and co-owner of the Ili-Ili publishing house, author of numerous books and creator of radio plays;
Sylwia Szostak, a Polish media scholar who publishes in Kwartalnik Filmowy and Ekrany, and a member of the Polish Society for Film and Media Studies and the Writers’ Circle of the Polish Filmmakers Association.
Polish Competition Jury
[Photos of two female jurors and one male juror of the Polish Competition]
MDAG could not take place without a love for Polish documentary cinema, which captivates with its exceptional quality and diversity of subjects. Ten titles have been selected for the Polish Competition, competing for the Best Polish Film Award and €4,000.
Joanna Łapińska is the first woman to hold the position of Artistic Director of the Gdynia Film Festival. She is the initiator and creator of Polish Days, a market for Polish cinema aimed at the international industry, Studio Nowe Horyzonty – workshops for young people in the film industry – and Gdynia Campus, workshops for film school students.
Raul Niño Zambrano is the Creative Director of Sheffield DocFest and has served multiple times as a juror at film festivals. As a senior programmer at IDFA Amsterdam, he conducted a groundbreaking study on the position of women in documentary filmmaking (The Female Gaze, 2014) and initiated the IDFA Queer Day event.
Ola Staszel is the director of DOK Leipzig. For 15 years she served as director of the Neisse Film Festival, where she was responsible, among other things, for the documentary and fiction film programmes. She founded and led the mobile cinema festival The Rolling Movies.
As part of the Polish Competition, the Smakjam Award for Best Production in the Polish Competition will be presented. Films in the Polish Competition are eligible both for the Best Polish Film Award and the Best Production Award in the Polish Competition from the Smakjam studio, worth €3,333 or the equivalent in post-production services. Smakjam is a post-production studio operating for 18 years, with offices in Warsaw and London.
Films in the Polish Competition will also compete for the Association of Arthouse Cinemas Award in the Polish Competition. The idea behind the Association of Arthouse Cinemas, which brings together 230 traditional cinemas across Poland, is to promote high culture, education and support the development of artistic cinema. Documentary films often take us out of our comfort zone, confront us with our darker side, but also teach sensitivity, tolerance and beauty. Documentary cinema is an extremely important element in fulfilling the mission of arthouse cinemas, which is why we believe in its power. The winner of the Association of Arthouse Cinemas Special Award will receive support for a promotional campaign of the winning film in cinemas worth 10,000 PLN. The jury will include Agnieszka Noskowska (Iluzjon Cinema, Warsaw), Dagmara Pawłowska (Zorza Cinema, Sianów), and Grzegorz Smędek (Miejsce Cinema, Zakopane).
Chopin's Nose Award Jury
[Photos of two female jurors and one male juror of the Chopin's Nose Award Competition]
During the 23rd MDAG, the Nos Chopin Award and €2,000 will once again be presented for the best film about music and art. The partner of the award is the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. The members of the jury have received awards for artistic achievements, and their work contributes to the development of Polish culture and art.
Bartek Wąsik is a pianist, composer and music arranger. He is a co-founder of the Lutosławski Piano Duo and Kwadrofonik ensembles. He has performed all over the world, in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He creates music inspired by nature, as exemplified by his latest album Pianorizon. During this year’s festival, Bartek Wąsik will captivate audiences with a performance inspired by the film Time and Water.
Eliza Kącka received the Nike Literary Award last year for her essay Yesterday You Were Angry in Green. She is a member of the Main Board of the Adam Mickiewicz Literary Society and of the jury of the Gdynia Literary Award. She publishes, among others, in Tygodnik Powszechny. She is an editor of selected works of classical poets, a member of the Literary Union, and an assistant professor at the University of Warsaw.
She began her career in the 1970s, working as a model, among others, with the Moda Polska fashion house. Since the mid-1980s, Lidia Popiel has been working as a photographer, producing sessions for magazines such as Zwierciadło, Pani and Sukces. She is the author of, among others, the cover of the album Zawsze tam gdzie ty by the band Lady Pank. She is a lecturer at the Warsaw Film School and editor-in-chief of Fine Life magazine.
Amnesty International Poland Competition Jury
[Photos of three female jurors of The Amnesty International Poland Competition]
One of the greatest values of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival for years has been the fight for human rights. The films that will take part in the Amnesty International Poland Competition share exactly this common denominator. The winner of the Amnesty International Poland Award will be selected by exceptional individuals for whom human dignity always comes first. The €3,000 award is a token of appreciation for those who, through their filmmaking, show what human rights truly mean.
Anna Błaszczak-Banasiak, Director of Amnesty International Poland and a specialist in anti-discrimination law and human rights protection. Before becoming the director of the awarding body, she worked at the European Parliament, the Office of the Ombudsman, and was a member of the European Network of Equality Bodies (EQUINET). Anna Błaszczak-Banasiak will take part in the discussion “Together Against Injustice – On Civil Disobedience,” which will be held during the 23rd MDAG after the screening of All on Kenmure Street, directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra.
Margje de Koning is the Artistic Director of the Movies that Matter Festival. For 12 years she directed documentary films and taught at the University of Amsterdam, and later held key positions at IKON and EOdocs, where she was responsible for the development of documentary production. Since 2019 she has led Movies that Matter and is actively involved in the film industry as a juror and panelist. Together with other creators, she has been invited to join the organization that awards the Oscars® each year.
Anne Marie Borsboom is the founder of ShareDoc – a platform offering support to protagonists of documentary films. She was one of the first female cinematographers in the Netherlands, working with various directors. Her documentary BOI was nominated for the Prix Europa 2016 award in the category of best television documentary and for the award for Best International Documentary at TIFF. In her films, Borsboom always strives to address themes that go beyond the main storyline, with women occupying a central place.
Short Film Competition Jury
[Photos of two male jurors and one female juror of the Short Film Competition]
This year, the competition for the Best Short Film Award is particularly strong. The Short Film Competition includes films awarded at Sundance and nominated for Oscars®. A total of 22 titles will compete for the award, including four Polish productions. A short format does not, of course, mean a lesser challenge for those who will serve on the jury this year.
Joanna Baranowska supports filmmakers in their creative processes as a psychologist and development executive. She has collaborated with the Short Waves Festival in Poznań, the Go Short International Short Film Festival in Nijmegen, the streaming platform This Is Short, and the Institute of Documentary Film in Prague.
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, a short film by Nebojša Slijepčević, was nominated for an Oscar®. Slijepčević has received numerous awards for his work, including the European Film Award and the Palme d’Or. The director will meet the festival audience as part of The Best of MDAG section after the screening of Serbka.
Anas Sareen, currently a programmer of the Generation section at the Berlinale, studied literature and film history at universities in Lausanne and Oxford, and then began working as a screenwriter and director. His short film The Gods, which premiered in Locarno in 2025, is screened at festivals around the world.
Green Warsaw Award Jury
[Two female jurors and one male juror of the Green Warsaw Award competition]
This year, the Green Warsaw Award will once again be presented, worth 15,000 PLN, for the best film on environmental themes. The award is funded by the City of Warsaw. The Green Warsaw Award is accompanied by the film section Climate for Change.
Leszek Drogosz, Deputy Director of the Infrastructure Office of the City of Warsaw, has for years been involved in implementing sustainable development projects co-financed by the European Union. He represents Warsaw in international city organizations such as EUROCITIES and C40. He co-created municipal strategies on energy and climate policy.
Orina Krajewska is a co-founder of the Małgosia Braunek “Bądź” Foundation, promoting a holistic approach to health and integrative medicine. Her work combines art with social engagement and education in the field of health. She is an actress and educator, a graduate of the London International School of Performing Arts, and leads theatre workshops and training sessions.
Salomé Jashi, a documentary filmmaker from Georgia, is co-founder and chair of Documentary Association Georgia (DOCA). She directed, among others, Taming of the Garden, well known to festival audiences, which received recognition at Sundance and Berlinale and a nomination for the European Film Awards. During the 23rd MDAG, the film will be presented in The Best of MDAG section, followed by a meeting with the director.
Other Jury Line-ups and Awards
Onet.pl Big Screen Doc Award
Festival audiences in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia and Poznań will vote using ballots for their favourite film from among 12 titles presenting various pop-cultural phenomena as well as more serious topics. The director of the winning film will receive €2,000.
Best Debut Award
A first or second film often allows young, talented creators to successfully enter the world of cinema. Supporting emerging talent, thanks to the award sponsor Visa – one of the global leaders in digital payments – the Best Debut Award worth €2,000 will be presented during Millennium Docs Against Gravity. An intergenerational jury composed of teenagers and people aged 55+ will select the best film. The jury will include: Oliwia Maciejewska, Antoni Banach, Stanisław Biele, Elżbieta Zawadzka, Witosława Giedrojć and Halina Rudzka.
“Newsweek Psychology” Award for Best Film on Psychological Themes
Once again, the editorial team of Newsweek Psychologia will present its award of €1,000 for the best film dealing with psychological themes. The titles in this competition present the full spectrum of human emotions and experiences, showing the struggles of protagonists for themselves and their happiness. The award will go to the story that best captures the complexity of our lives.
Warsaw Documentary Award
As every year, audiences of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival will choose the best film, which will receive the Audience Award. All films presented in the festival programme take part in the competition. Every viewer can vote and become a juror of Millennium Docs Against Gravity.
Selected Guests of the 23rd MDAG
[A graphic containing a list of 23. MDAG guests]
Exceptional creators and protagonists from around the world will attend the MDAG festival. Among them is Andri Snær Magnason – an Icelandic writer who uniquely combines literature with storytelling about climate, narrator of Time and Water and author of the book of the same title. The audience will also meet the director of the film, Sara Dosa, nominated for an Oscar® for the well-known MDAG audience film Fire of Love.
Warsaw will also host masters of documentary cinema whose latest films are included in the new section Masters: Alan Berliner with two films – the new production Benita, portraying the life of artist Benita Raphan, and the earlier Letter to the Editor, composed entirely of images cut from The New York Times, collected by Berliner and forming a kind of farewell to a passing era. Monika Treut will visit MDAG with Cooking up Democracy, which will have its world premiere at the festival. Ruth Beckermann will present her new film Wax&Gold.
Poland will also be visited by the co-directors of A Fox under A Pink Moon – Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Akhalaghi, who is also the protagonist of this moving story and appears on the poster of the 23rd MDAG. French wildlife photographer and documentary filmmaker Vincent Munier, known for The Snow Leopard, will attend the festival with Whispers in Thw Woods.
The audience will also meet remarkable protagonists whose lives focus on creating real change: Delphine Halgand-Mishra, protagonist of Whistleblower and president of The Signals Network, which protects whistleblowers worldwide; and Iryna Dovhan, protagonist of Traces by Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk and founder of SEMA Ukraine, supporting people who have experienced sexual violence by Russian soldiers.
This social sensitivity is also brought by Maasja Ooms, director of My Word Against Mine – her previous films had a real impact on changes in the care system in the Netherlands, and her latest work tells the story of an innovative approach to working with people living with mental illness.
Finally, among the guests will also be Irvine Welsh – the protagonist of Irvine Welsh. Reality Is Not Enough and author of Trainspotting – as well as John Wilson with his latest film History of Concrete. The director is known to Polish audiences from the HBO series How To with John Wilson. Silje Jacobsen also returns to the festival, known to MDAG audiences from A New Kind of Wilderness, this time presenting her latest work – Mystery Package.
Passes and Accreditation for the Warsaw Edition of the 23rd MDAG Now on Sale!
Sales of passes and media and industry accreditations for the 23rd edition of MDAG in Warsaw are now underway. Sales are conducted at book.mdag.pl and will continue until May 1 or until all passes are sold out.
Festival passes can be purchased for 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 your ticket to a cinematic feast, which this year will include over 170 top-quality documentary productions from around the world.
All media professionals and members of the film industry are encouraged to purchase media or industry accreditation. To obtain one, please fill out the form at: https://book.mdag.pl/pl/akredytacje. The cost of accreditation is 270 PLN. Within a few days of submitting the application, you will be informed whether your accreditation has been granted. All useful information can be found at: https://book.mdag.pl/pl/strona/jak-dziala-twoja-akredytacja.
All films will be presented during the 23rd MDAG festival, which 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 (https://www.bankmillennium.pl/).
