On this page, you will find specific data regarding the structure and audience development, events, awards, year-round film cycles, the number of publications, and the festival's reach and media value. Thus, MDAG aims to meet the highest standards of transparency.
Our Mission
Millennium Docs Against Gravity sparked the interest in documentaries in Poland and has continued to captivate audiences thanks to its consistently engaging and thoughtfully curated program. MDAG is o the list of Oscar®-qualifying festivals in the category of Best Feature Documentary and is also a qualifier for the European Film Awards.
The 22nd edition of the festival in 2025 attracted an audience of over 180,000 people. MDAG is the only film festival in Europe to take place simultaneously in seven cities: Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Łódź.
In May 2026, we will once again invite audiences on a cinematic journey around the world—and deep within themselves. The 23rd edition of MDAG will take place in cinemas from May 8–17 and online from May 19 to June 1, 2026.
Our festival grows nomadically, in a way that reflects the spirit of the 21st century—seeking out audiences across the country. We believe this is the future of film festivals.
A Space for the Growth of Cinema: 4. MDAG INDUSTRY!
5 days of MDAG Industry, a brand-new XR pitching session, 75 decision makers from around the world, and a 29% increase in attendance!
This year’s MDAG Industry attracted 1,553 participants and 75 decision makers from across the globe—a 29% increase in attendance compared to the previous year. We are steadily strengthening MDAG Industry’s position as one of the key events on the European film industry calendar. This is evident not only in the numbers but also in the growing number of international partnerships, project submissions, and industry guests.
"Every year, we introduce new elements and build almost from scratch. This time, the highlights were the MDAG Vision XR exhibition and Xtended Pitch—a presentation of XR, AR, and VR projects at various stages of production—as well as events focused on new technologies. Today’s creators are exploring new forms of storytelling and breaking genre boundaries. We are closely watching these trends and the ways immersive formats are shaping narrative development. That’s why we want the Polish industry and audience to be part of this conversation,"
says Anna Szczypińska, Head of MDAG Industry.
XR Exhibition: MDAG VISION
Once again, we had the opportunity to co-create and present the MDAG VISION exhibition: Human in Dialogue with Technology, which took place from May 12–18, 2025, at the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw. It was a dedicated XR experience zone showcasing five exceptional works that explored the boundaries of perception, identity, and the relationship between humans and technology.
The exhibition was curated by Anna Szylar and Karol Piekarczyk.
It drew significant interest from festival audiences and became a key part of the program—blending artistic reflection with pressing questions about the future of human–technology interaction.
Our reach and festival goers
MDAG is second largest documentary film festival in Europe, the most significant celebration of documentary art in Poland, and one of the largest film events worldwide.
Total amount of festival goers in 2025: 181 542 participants
Total amount of films in the 2025 programme: Over 190
Media presence
Amount of publications/appearances in 2025: 7672
AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent) in 2025: 41 863 321 PLN
Partners
Total amount of media patrons: 26
Total amount of festival partners: 44
Winners 2025
Accompanying Events
A total of 158 Q&A sessions and 37 special events took place in Warsaw alone—including 8 music events, workshops, photography exhibitions, and 7 educational activities.
Across all festival cities, there were an impressive 195 Q&A sessions and 110 special events in total!
MDAG Guests
The 22nd edition of MDAG offered a unique opportunity to meet some of the most remarkable voices in contemporary documentary cinema. The festival welcomed filmmakers and protagonists from across the globe, creating an extraordinary space for personal encounters and the exchange of ideas.
The festival cities were visited by:
– 83 international filmmakers and protagonists
– 40 Polish filmmakers and protagonists
– 82 international Industry guests
In total, a record-breaking 205 guests attended the 22nd MDAG—marking a 25% increase compared to the previous year and the highest number of guests in the festival’s history.
Warsaw alone hosted 119 Q&A sessions, while across all festival cities, there were 195 Q&A sessions with filmmakers and film protagonists.
This is a clear sign that the festival is not only about screening films—it’s above all about creating a space for dialogue and reflection!
Feedback from festival guests
„We had such a memorable stay in Poland and in loved your festival. Everything was well organised and you are all so friendly.
Very best wishes and thank you for everything!”
— Mark Cousins, director and focus of retrospective in 2025
„Thank you for having me! I had a wonderful time, lots of sold out screenings, interesting conversations and Q&As! I hope to be back in Poland soon. I think you’re all doing an amazing job!!”
—Asif Kapadia, the Oscar®-winning director of 2073
The festival is on all year round
A look at the Against Gravity film cycles
May is particularly important for us because that is when we get to meet you during our festival screenings. However we continue to work throughout the year, organizing film cycles to promote education and important social issues. They appear in various cities, giving a wide audience the opportunity to see festival (and not just festival) hits.
VOD.MDAG.PL!
Everything started with Millennium Docs Against Gravity, the biggest film festival in Poland. In 2020, a memorable year, the festival introduced a hybrid formula: over 100 films were presented online after the cinema edition. Its tremendous success served as further proof that it was time to create a new place on the Web for the most interesting documentaries and feature films—a place where anyone could broaden their knowledge of our reality, look upon other people with tenderness, and discover the most pressing problems of the modern world.
We favor diversity of subjects, which is why our catalogue features plenty of movies about politics, the society, psychology, science, sport, art, architecture, and fashion. Feature films available on our platform are mainly art-house pictures that push the boundaries of contemporary cinematic language.
In addition to promoting film culture and delivering powerful experiences to our viewers, sparking curiosity is a major part of our mission. This is why we introduced a separate section of our platform devoted to broadly defined modern education.