Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival
Millennium Docs Against Gravity initiated the trend of documentary films in Poland and has since generated broad interest among audiences, a result of the consistently developed and attractive festival program. The growing audience, the festival's international stature, and the increasing number of partners reflect the validity of the festival's development concept and the creation of a community of audiences and co-organizing organizations for one of the most important film events in Poland.
The 22nd edition of the festival in 2025 gathered an audience of over 180,000 people. As the only film festival in Europe, it takes place simultaneously in 7 cities: Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Łódź.
Our festival is evolving in a nomadic manner, in line with the 21st century, seeking audiences all over the country. We believe this is the future of film festivals. We take the priorities of promoting film culture by our partnering institutions who financially support the festival very seriously.
Our festival was the first in Poland to introduce a competition for the Best Feature-Length Documentary (the Bank Millennium Award). In 2024, MDAG was officially recognized as an Oscar®-qualifying festival in the category of Best Feature Documentary. In 2022, Millennium Docs Against Gravity was also admitted by the European Film Academy to the group of “major European film festivals,” gaining the right to recommend films for the European Film Awards. In 2023, the festival’s Artistic Director, Karol Piekarczyk, became a member of the European Film Academy.
In 2021, the festival’s founder and director, Artur Liebhart, received the Polityka Passport Award—granted for the first time in a special “Remote Culture” category. In both 2009 and 2023, MDAG received the prestigious Polish Film Institute Award for the “most important international film event” in Poland and was nominated in the same category in 2013. In 2019, the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival was listed among the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World by MovieMaker Magazine.
MDAG is also a co-founder and member of the Doc Alliance, which brings together seven key European documentary film festivals: CPH: DOX Copenhagen, DOK Leipzig, IDFF Jihlava, FID Marseille, Visions du Réel Nyon, Doclisboa, and Millennium Docs Against Gravity.
In May 2026, we will invite audiences on a cinematic journey around the world and into themselves. The 23rd MDAG will take place from May 8th to 17th in cinemas, followed by an online event from May 19th to June 1st, 2026.
THE WHOLE WORLD BETWEEN US
“The Whole World Between Us” was the slogan of MDAG 2025. It evoked a sense of community—among audiences, filmmakers, and everyone involved in creating the second-largest celebration of documentary cinema in Europe.
“During the 22nd edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity, we talked a lot about community. We’re incredibly happy that the call from the filmmakers to show solidarity in uncertain times and to draw strength together from the stories on screen was met with such a warm response from our audience. This record-breaking edition is also a responsibility—one we’ll carry forward by continuing to bring the best, most carefully curated artistic documentaries to Poland,” says Mateusz Góra, Head of Communications at MDAG.
Karol Piekarczyk, the festival’s Artistic Director, shares his joy at the enthusiastic response to this year’s program: “Once again, we broke our attendance record. This success is a testament to how amazing our audience is. This year, we focused on the idea of community, beginning with the festival’s slogan—The Whole World Between Us. And that community spirit could be felt everywhere—in the cinema halls, but also in the vibrant conversations outside. Many of our international guests praised the MDAG audience, noting the turnout, passion for documentary cinema, and the insightful questions and comments during Q&As. The community created by our viewers is truly one of a kind. As the festival team, we’re proud to be part of it.”