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The first weekend of MDAG Online is ahead of us. On a projector or a laptop, with your favorite food or drinks, alone, with your significant other or friends, under a blanket, at home or by the lake – now the best documentary films can be watched anywhere! The program of the 23rd online edition is constantly expanding – starting today, two more films from the theatrical edition are available on mdag.pl – “Elements of(f) Balance” and “Almost Forever”.
And if you missed the latest production by the legendary Werner Herzog, “Ghost Elephants”, during the 23rd MDAG, you will soon be able to see it on the big screen, as it will hit cinemas across the country from June 12.
New releases on MDAG Online
“Elements of(f) Balance”, dir. Othmar Schmiderer
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The first new title is “Elements of(f) Balance”, full of breathtaking shots on land and underwater, taking us on an extraordinary journey through contemporary ecosystems. In the film, we meet scientists and farmers from different cultures, speaking different languages, who present a vision of cooperation that could help build a better future. The film asks whether ecological interdependence can stop us from heading toward a dystopian future?
“Almost Forever”, dir. Lia Hietala, Hannah Reinikainen
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The second film is “Almost Forever”. It is an intimate and honest portrait of growing up in the contemporary world. Over five formative years, we follow a group of close friends from Stockholm – from carefree childhood to emotionally intense and uncertain teenage years. Their everyday lives are filled with rollerblading together, conversations, and filming their own lives, but over time tensions begin to emerge in their relationships, connected to first loves, gossip, and questions about boundaries, consent, and cancel culture.
“Ghost Elephants” coming soon to cinemas!
Werner Herzog’s latest documentary film – “Ghost Elephants” – will be released in cinemas in just two weeks. It is a unique opportunity to see the latest work by one of the most important documentary filmmakers on the big screen, a film that captivated audiences at the 23rd MDAG.
Whenever a Herzog film appears in the MDAG program, audiences embark on another journey together with him. This time, the director follows Dr. Steve Boyes, who tracks gigantic elephants hiding from humans in the uninhabited regions of Angola. Locals call them the end of the world.
Herzog combines the magical with the scientific approach in the film. To a large extent, the film has an anthropological dimension. It explains tribal divisions, roles within the Bushmen community in Namibia, the ways they obtain poison, or methods of communicating with elephant spirits. [...] Herzog repeatedly invokes legends about the relationship between elephants and humans, shows rituals, and searches for appropriate means of expression for this alternative logic. To achieve this, he uses various shots intended to give reality a poetic quotation mark, but also to mislead (seduce?) the viewers’ eyes. Cutaways featuring figures blurred by the heat-shimmering air or underwater shots revealing fragments of elephant silhouettes create a sense of ghostliness or surrealism. – Marta Stańczyk, Ekrany [https://ekrany.org.pl/odkrycia/sny-o-sloniach/]
[alttekst: a poster for "Ghost Elephants"]
However, “Ghost Elephants” is more than just a story about tracking elusive animals. Herzog once again surprises with his inquisitiveness and ability to construct a multidimensional narrative – this time about ghost elephants, human imagination, and the need for mystery. If you did not get a chance to see the film during MDAG, in just two weeks you will be able to catch up in cinemas all across Poland. The list of cinemas screening the film will be published soon.
Well, I think that searching for the unknown, just like striving for the impossible, is something deeply human. There is nothing wrong with it as long as we are certain that we are not destroying anything, not taking away other beings’ right to live. “Ghost Elephants” is not a film about wildlife, but about our dreams and the power of imagination. [...] As humanity, we simply need certain illusions. It begins in childhood, with fairy tales that later occupy a permanent place in our psyche. It is perfectly fine to believe in Santa Claus when you are a child. Just as it is fine to believe in elves, Lilliputians, and giants. – Werner Herzog in an interview with Mateusz Demski for Tygodnik Powszechny [https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/werner-herzog-pociaga-nas-nie-przyroda-ale-tajemnica-193311]
MDAG Industry: call for applications for the dok.incubator project
[alttekst: information about submissions for dok.incubator project.]
dok.incubator is looking for filmmakers from the V4 countries (Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, as well as co-productions with these countries) who are developing creative and ambitious documentary projects at the rough-cut stage aimed at an international audience. The workshops are open to a broad spectrum of formats and voices – from traditional formats to documentary TV and web series, hybrid documentaries, web-based narratives, and innovative cross-genre projects with a strong documentary core. Submission deadline: June 1, 2026.
The program is designed for teams consisting of a director, editor, and producer who are open to collaboration, feedback, and intensive film development. What matters most is commitment to the project, openness to mentoring, and the ambition to develop the film to its highest potential through focused creative work and exchange within an international environment.
The 23rd edition of MDAG Online takes place from May 19 to June 1 on mdag.pl. The event’s title sponsor is Bank Millennium
