Millennium Docs Against Gravity is inviting submissions for its 23rd edition, running May 8 – 17 2026. The Polish festival takes place simultaneously in seven different cities – Warsaw, Gdynia, Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Poznań, and Łódź. “In May 2025, we invited audiences on a cinematic journey around the world and into themselves,” write organisers. “Over 181,000 people took part in both parts of the festival.”
For 2026, the festival is looking for films that will have their Polish premiere, and whose duration exceeds 45 minutes. The submissions deadline January 9 2026, and must be made via https://vp.eventival.com/mdagff/2026.
MDAG organizes 16 competitions and grants a total of 20 film awards. In addition to the Grand Prix – Bank Millennium Award in Warsaw, films in the Main Competition also have the chance to win five local awards: the Mayor of Gdynia Award, the Lower Silesia Grand Prix in Wrocław, the City of Poznań Freedom Award, the Silesian Audience Award in Katowice, and the Bydgoszcz ART.DOC Award.
MDAG is included on the list of Oscar®-qualifying festivals. This means that the winner of the Grand Prix – Bank Millennium Award has a direct path to the Oscars® in the Best Documentary Feature category.
The festival also qualifies films for the European Film Awards. MDAG is a co-founder and member of the Doc Alliance network, which brings together seven key European documentary film festivals: CPH:DOX Copenhagen, DOK Leipzig, IDFF Jihlava, FID Marseille, Visions du Réel Nyon, Doclisboa, and MDAG. Each year it nominates one feature-length and one short film for the Doc Alliance Awards.
“MDAG initiated the documentary film boom in Poland and attracts crowds of viewers each year thanks to its film program and numerous accompanying events,’ say organisers. “In addition to screenings and Q&A sessions with filmmakers and protagonists, the festival also offers concerts, exhibitions, and weekend parties. The MDAG Industry events attract to Warsaw the most important figures in the documentary film world, as well as creators developing their projects.”
