23/04/2024 - The festival will run in seven Polish cities and will feature a number of premieres for both international and local documentaries

The 21^st edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity (MDAG) is swiftly drawing near. The cinematic segment of the event will unfold across seven Polish cities – Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Łódź, and Bydgoszcz – from 10-19 May. Following this, the online component of the festival, showcasing cutting-edge international documentary films making their debut in Poland, will be accessible on the mdag.pl platform from 21 May-3 June.

The motto of the 2024 MDAG is "In relation to the world". "The motto of this year's Millennium Docs Against Gravity directly references the topics addressed by the films featured in the festival programme. It's also a tribute to the extraordinary work of creators who depict the reality surrounding us and the magical bond formed in the cinema hall. Following the motto, we focus on human relationships and showcase the boundless complexity of our nature. On one hand, it allows for friendship, love, and empathy. On the other hand, it is our species that is responsible for the destruction of ourselves and the planet, which is not just a home for us," says Karol Piekarczyk, artistic director of MDAG.

The festival showcases nearly 190 films from across the globe. It will kick off with the world premiere of The Last Expedition, a documentary depicting the remarkable journey of Himalayan climber Wanda Rutkiewicz directed by alpinist and filmmaker Eliza Kubarska (The Wall of Shadows [+see also:
trailer
interview: Eliza Kubarska
film profile]). Rutkiewicz holds the distinction of being the first woman worldwide and the first person from Poland to conquer the highest peaks on earth.

In the Main Competition, 12 films from diverse corners of the world, helmed by a total of 10 female and 9 male directors, will vie for top honours. These films stand a chance to win six prestigious awards across six festival cities, including the coveted Grand Prix - Millennium Bank Award. The Main Competition jury comprises Emmy Award–winning filmmaker/photographer Lauren Greenfield, Estonian film director Anna Hints, and culture writer, critic and film curator Murtada Elfadl. 

The selection comprises: Agent of Happiness [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottyja Zurbó (Bhutan/Hungary), Forest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lidia Duda
film profile] by Lidia Duda (Poland/Czech Republic), Hollywoodgate [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Ibrahim Nash’at (Germany/USA), Ibelin [+see also:
film review
interview: Benjamin Ree
film profile] by Benjamin Ree (Norway), I'm Not Everything I Want to Be [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Klára Tasovská (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Austria), The Last Expedition by Eliza Kubarska (Poland/Switzerland/Nepal/India/Italy/Austria), Mother Vera [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson (UK), Nocturnes by Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Dutta (India/USA), No Other Land [+see also:
film review
interview: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
film profile] by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor (Palestine/Norway), Soundtrack to Coup d'Etat [+see also:
film review
interview: Johan Grimonprez
film profile] by Johan Grimonprez (Belgium/France/Netherlands), sr by Lea Hartlaub (Germany/South Africa/Israel/Palestine/Kenya/USA/Philippines/Egypt/Turkey/Iran/Niger/China), and Sugarcane by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie (USA/Canada).

A total of 12 films are participating in the Polish Competition, each vying for the opportunity to secure three distinct awards. These awards include the Best Polish Film Award, the Smakjam Award for Best Production, and the Arthouse Cinema Association Award. "The art of cinema portrays what is sometimes intangible and inexpressible - in Polish documentary films from 2024, we see a hunger for closeness, honesty, finding oneself in relation to the world and others, a desire to overcome one's own weaknesses, and to see reality anew,” says Wojciech Diduszko, director of the Polish Competition at MDAG. Nine out of twelve competition films will have their world premieres at the festival. Six films were directed by men and six by women. The jury comprises Canadian-American screenwriter, actor and curator Jaie Laplante, Sundance Film Festival programmer Anna Trzebiatowska, and head of Gdynia Industry and Cineuropa’s Ola Salwa.

The selection includes: 8th Day of Khamsin by Zvika Gregory Portnoy (Poland/Israel), Abortion Dream Team by Karolina Lucyna Domagalska (Poland/Sweden), Fakir by Roman Ďuriš (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Poland), In Limbo [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Alina Maksimenko (Poland), Just Hear Me Out by Małgorzata Imielska (Poland), Life and Deaths of Max Linder by Edward Porembny (Poland/France/USA/Belgium), Rave by Łukasz Ronduda and Dawid Nickel (Poland), Twenty Years After: C.K.O.D.3 by Piotr Szczepański (Poland), Well of Dreams by Pawel Tarasiewicz (Poland), When Harmattan Blows by Edyta Wróblewska (Poland) and the two Polish co-productions of the Main Competition.