65 000 people participated in the cinema edition of the 17th Millennium Docs Against Gravity. This is a testament to the huge interest in documentary cinema and an excellent sign in advance of the online edition of the festival, which will run from September 19 to October 4.
65 000 people in seven Polish cities—Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Lublin—attended documentary screenings and associated events at the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival. Despite this year’s challenging conditions, rescheduling from May to September, and 50% restrictions on screening room seating capacity, our audience bravely took to cinemas to enjoy the best documentaries from all over the world. And the festival isn’t over yet—its online edition will take place between September 19 and October 4. Viewers will be able to stream over 100 films from this year’s program on the festival website, mdag.pl. Meetings with creators, debates, and workshops will be held on the festival’s social media pages, and authors have recorded special introductions to their films.
Tremendously high attendance!
1200 screenings, nearly 150 films, meetings with creators and protagonists, debates, workshops, music events… Polish, European, and global premieres of leading productions and works of the preeminent documentary creators from all over the world. In keeping with this year’s motto, “out of tenderness toward the world,” our viewers familiarized themselves with a range of topics: psychology, art, science, human rights, architecture, fashion...
This extremely rich and carefully curated program attracted crowds of viewers to cinemas, which are currently in crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The attendees supported the festival cinemas, showing their love for the places which make it possible to travel to the farthest reaches of the world in the focused quiet of a screening room. Feature-length documentaries, the cinematic art form consistently promoted by Millennium Docs Against Gravity, are gaining increasingly more viewers throughout Poland!
Audio descriptions and online section: access for everyone!
The total number of tickets to festival screenings sold this year reached 65 000, but that’s not all—the online edition of the festival will take place on mdag.pl from September 19 to October 4. It will make this year’s program available throughout the country, allowing those who couldn’t make it to the cinemas—whether due to the pandemic, their location, advanced age, health issues, or disability—to arrange a true cinematic feast in their own households. Seven films will feature audio descriptions and closed captioning for Deaf viewers, thanks to the assistance of Millennium Bank, the festival’s patron, and our collaboration with the Culture Without Barriers Foundation.
The hybrid form of the 17th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity increases the reach of film education, an aspect particularly important to the organizers. This is why the festival will culminate in a new, ongoing VOD project, “Tune In. Documentary cinema online,” which will allow viewers to access a selection of festival films, recorded meetings with creators and experts, and online workshops for children, teenagers, and university students. The project is co-financed by the “Culture on the Web” program of the National Centre for Culture.
During the online edition, which launches at 8AM on Saturday, September 19, access to specific films can be purchased through their pages as an e-ticket priced at 9.50 PLN. An e-ticket is valid for 24 hours from the time of purchase. After clicking Play the user will have 4 hours to watch the film.
An e-pass is valid between 8AM on September 19 and 11:59PM on October 4, 2020. After clicking Play the user will have 4 hours to watch the film. An e-pass will cost 42 PLN for 5 films, 79 PLN for 10 films, and 98 PLN for 14 films. The films will be accessible solely from Poland.
The first Poznań edition of the festival thanks to the collaboration with Kino Muza!
The 17th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity took place between September 4 and 13 in six cities: Warsaw, Wrocław, Poznań, Katowice, Lublin, and Bydgoszcz. The Gdynia edition of the festival started on September 9 and will end on September 18.
The concept of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival is constantly evolving to meet the increasing interest in documentary filmmaking throughout Poland. This year saw the first edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity in Poznań thanks to the festival’s collaboration with Kino Muza.
The complete results of this year’s edition will be announced after the end of the online edition, but we’d already like to thank you for your company and involvement! Given the current challenging conditions, we see this year’s numbers as a major expression of solidarity and love for documentary cinema!
