FIPRESCI and the Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival announced February 16 the nominees for the first FIPRESCI Documentary Grand Prix, whose winner will be announced at the Opening Ceremony of the 23rd MDAG in May 2026. Members of FIPRESCI from around the world will vote on the new award which will be given to the best documentary film of the year.
The award will be “one of the most important distinctions in global documentary cinema,” the festival writes.
The FIPRESCI Documentary Grand Prix nominees are:
- 2000 Meters to Andriivka by Mstyslav Chernov An unflinching film from the frontline in Ukraine, where a small group of soldiers fight their way two kilometers through a harsh landscape to liberate a village in ruins.
- Fiume o morte! by Igor Bezinović A century after Gabriele D’Annunzio’s bizarre 1919 occupation of Fiume, Rijeka-born director Igor Bezinović and 300 citizens stage a subversive, punk-infused reenactment that dismantles nationalist mythmaking and exposes the enduring spectacle of political performance.
- Mr Nobody Against Putin by Pavel Talankin and David Borenstein A documentary about propaganda and everyday life in Russia follows Pasha, a small-town teacher on the Urals who films his students as schools become militarized after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine—capturing loyalty pledges, fear, and the quiet resistance of teenagers.
- Orwell: 2+2=5 by Raoul Peck Interweaving archive footage from adaptations of “1984” with a tapestry of 21st century images, Raoul Peck dissects Orwell’s genius and his vital lessons for our times.
- The Perfect Neighbour by Geeta Gandbhir Police bodycam recordings capture the moment a protracted conflict between neighbors escalates into a deadly encounter in this documentary exploring fear, bias, and Stand Your Ground legislation.
Karol Piekarczyk, Artistic Director of MDAG, commented when the new award was announced in January 2026: “For us this is a great privilege. It shows that our hard work resonates and puts more spotlight on documentary films. Our festival team comprises of many amazing individuals who work year in, year out to make sure that documentary productions are given justice they deserve. A lot of them work behind the scenes but have been [essential] in achieving what we have in recent years, such as having an audience over 180,000 strong at the last edition, being awarded an Academy Award qualifying status, or now being from 2026 a place where the Documentary Grand Prix will be given by FIPRESCI. This recognition goes equally to members of the documentary industry that we have worked with: filmmakers, producers, world sales distributors, journalists – many of whom visited MDAG.”
“The award is planned as an annual celebration. It’s an indefinite agreement for years to come,” Piekarczyk added. “The FIPRESCI award at San Sebastian has been given for 25 years. We can circle back in 2051 and we will check how it’s going but I’m optimistic in this regard.”
He further underlined the significance of the new award. “It will be awarded by over 1500 critics from over 80 countries in the world, which for documentaries is quite unprecedented. This international aspect aligns very well with what best documentary films do – they are universal and are well understood wherever they might be screened. Both documentarians and film critics are sceptical about the idea of one truth, and rightly so, but in today’s world I think that audiences can feel that when they are watching well executed documentaries there is something that can resonate closer with their own human experience. Documentary films are showcased not just at film festivals but also in cinema distribution around the world, they are used as educational tools, they can aid advocacy, we even have examples where they were actors of social or legal change. As a form of art they have reached levels of exceptional masterfulness.”
FIPRESCI President Ahmed Shawky commented: “Today, documentary films play a powerful role – artistically, politically, and socially. The documentary landscape is richer than ever and increasingly influential. FIPRESCI partners with around a dozen documentary festivals, where we host juries and award outstanding films. Yet our annual Grand Prix, presented in San Sebastián since 2000, has never gone to a documentary, even though documentaries are eligible. With more than 1,600 critics from 80 countries voting, documentaries struggle to compete with high-profile fiction films. That is why we created a Grand Prix dedicated exclusively to documentaries, to spotlight the best documentary of the year.”
The winner will be announced during the Opening Ceremony of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland, on May 7, 2026.
The 23rd MDAG will take place from 8 to 17 May 2026 in cinemas in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Łódź, and online from May 19 to June 1 at mdag.pl.
