Millennium Docs Against Gravity 2026: Grand Prix Win Highlights Documentary Advocacy

Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazic’s *To Hold a Mountain* won the Grand Prix – Bank Millennium Award at MDAG in Warsaw. It follows an aunt and niece protecting their Montenegrin homestead from a military training project.

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MDAG, Europe’s second-largest nonfiction festival, took place in Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdynia, Poznan, Katowice, Lódz and Bydgoszcz. The 2026 edition featured twelve competition titles, over 200 filmmakers, and fifteen awards. The in-person program ended Sunday; an online extension runs 19 May–1 June.

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*To Hold a Mountain* took the Grand Prix. *Traces* (Alisa Kovalenko, Marysia Nikitiuk) earned a special mention and the Smakjam Award for Best Production, depicting Ukrainian women survivors of wartime sexual violence. Igor Bezinovic’s *Fiume o Morte!* won the inaugural FIPRESCI Grand Prix. *A Fox Under a Pink Moon* (Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhlaghi) won the FIPRESCI Award and the Amnesty International Poland Award.

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Liebhart noted that MDAG expanded its industry activities, creating new opportunities for filmmakers to develop projects. Jury members Talal Derki, Lea Glob and Jessica Hargrave praised *To Hold a Mountain* for its “nuanced portrayal of sisterhood, adolescence and the generative role of nature and family.” Jury members for *Traces* described it as “a profoundly moving work… balancing the devastating reality of sexual violence with a collective portrait of resilience.”

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Piekarczyk rebuked Wim Wenders’ call for filmmakers to “stay out of politics,” arguing that “basic human rights have become political.”

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Documentary film’s capacity to confront issues such as gender-based war violence and climate change was emphasized, noting that documentaries “respond to current issues, ask difficult questions, and compel us to reflect on the world we live in.” The industry program aims to nurture projects and raise nonfiction’s cultural status.

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• “The film takes us into a magical world — a chosen solitude shared between an aunt and her niece, redrawing for us the beauty of family bonds within an enchanting natural landscape and rural tradition filled with love and patience,” — Talal Derki, jury member

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• “ “We have significantly enlarged activities for the industry this year, giving new opportunities to develop film projects at and with our festival.” — Artur Liebhart, festival director

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• “I’m not going to take issue with the person that said it, but with the sentiment,” — Karol Piekarczyk, artistic director

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• “revenge through storytelling and art.” — Igor Bezinovic, director of *Fiume o Morte!*

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MDAG’s online platform will continue through 1 June, offering additional screenings and panels. Audience and city-specific awards for Warsaw and the remaining host locations are slated for announcement later in May.

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