Millennium Docs Against Gravity

In January 2021 Artur Liebhart, the founder and director of the Festival, became the first recipient of Polityka magazine’s Paszport Polityki—Special Prize for Remote Culture award. This amazing award perfectly underscores the landmark status of the 2020 edition; the description of the Remote Culture award specifies it had been granted for “speedily adapting the film festival to new conditions in challenging times. For success in not just maintaining, but expanding the reach of the event, for the creation of a digital film distribution platform, and for being a splendid example to others. Despite the potentially gloomy future, the motto of the 2020 Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival was “Out of tenderness for the world” and the opening film of the event was Małgorzata Goliszewska and Kasia Mateja’s “Lessons of Love”, which follows a woman over 70 who decided to leave an abusive marriage and start a new life. We really needed hope and the belief that everything can be changed for the better—and we still do.”

12 years ago our festival was the first in Poland to launch the best feature-length documentary competition (The Millennium Bank Award). In 2009 we received the prestigious Polish Film Institute award for “the most important international film event” in Poland. In 2013 Millennium Docs Against Gravity received its second nomination to this award. In 2022 the European Film Academy decided to invite Millennium Docs Against Gravity to the group of “major European film festivals”, which means that the festival can qualify films for the European Film Award.

Millennium Docs Against Gravity made watching documentaries fashionable in Poland. The methodically developed, appealing programming of the festival attracts growing numbers of attendees.

We have great hopes about the future! In addition to the hybrid formula, retained for the 2021 Festival, in December 2020 we launched a permanent VOD platform: VOD.MDAG.PL, which hosts the best documentaries from the previous editions of Millennium Docs Against Gravity as well as art-house features. Thus, the Festival became a year-round event, constantly carrying out its key goals: popularizing film culture, educating about documentary filmmaking, and—most importantly—reaching the widest possible audience with interesting, moving, and wise stories.

Millennium Docs Against Gravity film festival 2024 will take place from May 10 to 19 in cinemas, and the online section will follow from May 21 to June 3.