03/06/2022 - This year, pitching sessions, discussion panels and networking meetings were added to MDAG Industry, an event dedicated to promoting local documentary productions

Director Tetiana Dorodnitsyna (centre) with Millennium Bank representatives Anna Gregorczyk and Aleksandra Tobiasz during the presentation of the Millennium Bank Award for the Best Eastern European Project, which went to Mother of Angels (© Bartosz Mrozowski/Millennium Docs Against Gravity)

The recently wrapped 19^th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity (13-21 May) introduced a more generous offering for documentary film professionals. “We are working on making Millennium Docs Against Gravity, and indeed Warsaw, a hub for promoting the Polish industry. Therefore, it includes the presentation of recent local films as part of a film market, as well as workshops, pitching sessions for new projects, and meetings between the biggest names in documentary filmmaking and the audience,” Anna Szczypińska, head of MDAG Industry, tells Cineuropa.

The first edition of the extended programme included presentations that were not only focused on Polish content, as new projects from Ukraine and Belarus were also introduced, as part of the Eastern Europe Against Gravity section. The prize in this strand, dubbed the Millennium Bank Award for the Best Eastern European Project, was given to Tetiana Dorodnitsyna and Andriy Litvinienko’s project Mother of Angels.

Long-time IDFA programmer Laura von Hanselma, documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival Thom Powers and executive producer at DR Sales Kim Christiansen were involved in a discussion panel entitled “On the Future of Documentary Filmmaking”, in which they shared their knowledge and expertise with an audience consisting of emerging documentary filmmakers.

Additionally, the third Forum of Young Audience Documentary Film was held, as was the final part of the second edition of a programme called “SKOK w DOK. Laboratorium Pomysłów Dokumentalnych” (lit. “HOP in DOC. Laboratory for Documentary Film Ideas”). MDAG Industry also collaborated with the Doc Development and First Film programmes, organising a follow-up session for the participants in the schemes’ third edition. On top of that, the Polish Producers Alliance hosted a networking session for professionals.

Millennium Docs Against Gravity is an ever-growing event in Poland, but it is also gaining prestige on the international level. In April 2022, the gathering was invited to join a group of festivals that are members of the European Film Academy. “As a result, films shown and awarded at our festival have an incredible opportunity to compete for the European Film Awards. What’s more, Millennium Docs Against Gravity can recommend films to be nominated for these awards,” added Karol Piekarczyk, the artistic director of the festival, during its opening ceremony.

The 19^th edition of the documentary gathering unspooled from 13-21 May in Warsaw, Wrocław, Poznań, Lublin, Gdynia, Katowice, Bydgoszcz and Łódź. The online edition started on 24 May and is set to wrap on 5 June.