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MILLENNIUM DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY 2022 Awards

Millennium Docs Against Gravity’s Grand Prix goes to The Pawnshop

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- Polish talents have won big at the 19th edition of the documentary gathering, which focused on non-fiction films as an important element of the conversation about current issues

Millennium Docs Against Gravity’s Grand Prix goes to The Pawnshop
The Pawnshop by Łukasz Kowalski

This journalist is not exactly a football expert but will use a sports metaphor, regardless: Polish talents have pulled off a hat-trick at the 19th Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival, winning the Grand Prix (for The Pawnshop [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
by Łukasz Kowalski), the First Appearance Award (for Silent Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Marek Kozakiewicz) and the Best Cinematography Award (Magdalena Kowalczyk, for Andrea Arnold’s Cow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
). On top of that, another Polish flick, Fledglings [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lidia Duda
film profile
]
, a sweet story about visually impaired children, by veteran director Lidia Duda, won a clutch of gongs (the TVP Kultura Award, the Mayor of Gdynia Special Mention and the Bydgoszcz Art.Doc Award), and Angels of Sinjar [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Poland/Germany) by Oscar-nominated helmer Hanna Polak snagged the Lower Silesia Grand Prix Special Mention. Polish documentaries also proved popular with the festival’s audience – most of the screenings were full at both the physical edition of the event, which unspooled from 13-22 May, and the online iteration, which started on 24 May and is set to wrap on 5 June.

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The Millennium Bank Award jury, comprising David France (How to Survive a Plague), Milenia Fiedler (an accomplished film editor, long-time collaborator with Andrzej Wajda and dean of the Łódź Film School) and Tamara Kotevska (Honeyland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile
]
), explained their verdict while also making a point about why Polish documentaries strike a chord with the festival audience: “It seems to be easier to make documentaries about extraordinary topics and characters, as everyone sees the shocking aspects of them. But what is to be admired are documentary craftsmen, who can make an extraordinary story out of the most ordinary topics and people, the ones we would usually ignore in the reality around us […] This film is a beautiful example of why we need to cherish life in its most ‘meaningless’ simplicity. This movie is an example of why we, as authors, must have our eyes open and focused on every ‘corner’ of our world in order to spot a great story.”

The growing popularity of Polish feature-length documentaries resulted in a dedicated competition, established three years ago, and curated by Wojciech Diduszko for the second time. The festival is headed up by Artur Liebhart, with Karol Piekarczyk serving as artistic director.

Here is the full list of winners at the 19th Millennium Docs Against Gravity:

Grand Prix – Bank Millennium Award
The Pawnshop [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
 – Łukasz Kowalski (Poland)
Special Mention
We Met in Virtual Reality [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Joe Hunting (UK)

Studio Cinemas Association Award in the Polish Competition
Fledglings [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lidia Duda
film profile
]
– Lidia Duda (Poland)
Special Mention
The Pawnshop – Łukasz Kowalski

Best Polish Film Award
Silent Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Marek Kozakiewicz (Poland)

Smakjam Polish Competition Prize for Best Production
The Pawnshop – Łukasz Kowalski

Best Short Film Award
Freedom Swimmer – Olivia Martin-McGuire (Australia/France)

First Appearance Award
Silent Love – Marek Kozakiewicz

TVP Kultura Award
Fledglings – Lidia Duda

Green Warsaw Award
Cow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Andrea Arnold (UK)
Special Mention
Invisible Demons – Rahul Jain (Finland/Germany/India)

Award for Best Cinematography
Magdalena Kowalczyk – Cow
Special Mentions
Alfredo de Juan – Hide and Seek [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Victoria Fiore
film profile
]
(UK/Italy)
Cecilie Debell, Jens Jákup Hansen, Maria Tórgarð, Rógvi Rasmussen, Troels Rasmus Jensen – Skal [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Faroe Islands/Denmark)

Chopin’s Nose Award
Nothing Compares [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Kathryn Ferguson (Ireland/UK)
Special Mention
Flight – Anna Zakrzewska, Łukasz Ronduda (Poland)

Best Film for Young Audiences
Water, Wind, Dust Bread – Mahdi Zamanpoori Kiasari (Iran)

Amnesty International Polska Award
Our Memory Belongs to Us – Rami Farah, Signe Byrge Sørensen (Syria/ Denmark/France/Palestine)

Zwierciadło” Award for Best Film on Psychology
Young Plato – Neasa Ni Chianain (Ireland/Belgium/France)

Warsaw Documentary Award
Navalny – Daniel Roher (USA)

Wyborcza.pl Big Screen Doc Award
Navalny – Daniel Roher

Award for the Director of the Best Ukrainian Film
Oleksiy Radynski - Infinity: According to Florian [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Ukraine)

The City of Poznań Freedom Award
Babi Yar. Context [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile
]
– Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine/Netherlands/France)
Special Mention
Cow – Andrea Arnold

Lower Silesia Grand Prix – Award of the Marshall of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Young Plato – Neasa Ni Chianain
Special Mentions
Angels of Sinjar [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
– Hanna Polak (Poland/Germany)
We Met in Virtual Reality – Joe Hunting

Mayor of Gdynia Award
The Pawnshop – Łukasz Kowalski
Special Mention
Fledglings – Lidia Duda

Etnomatograph Award
Singing in the Wilderness – Dongan Chen (China)

Bydgoszcz Art.Doc Award
Fledglings – Lidia Duda

Silesian Audience Award
The Pawnshop – Łukasz Kowalski

Honourable Distinction of the District Bar Council
A House Made of Splinters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Simon Lereng Wilmont (Denmark/Sweden/Finland/Ukraine)

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