24/04/2025 - Millennium Docs Against Gravity’s professional strand connects Polish documentary filmmakers with the global industry through a programme of pitching sessions, master classes and networking events

Director Roman Ďuriš, who is participating with his project Always Far Away

MDAG Industry, running from 8-12 May as part of the 22nd Millennium Docs Against Gravity, is a platform intended to connect Polish filmmakers with international festival reps, distributors, producers and sales agents. Organised with Canal+ Polska and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, the event has grown into a launchpad for ambitious documentaries. This year, from over 200 submissions, selected projects will be pitched to an international jury across various sessions. MDAG Industry also benefits from support via the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme.

Ten projects have been selected to participate in the Progress Pitching Session. Eight were chosen by the festival’s selectors, while two received MDAG awards at East Doc Platform and CPH:DOX, earning them a place in this year’s line-up. Spanning various stages of development – from concept to post-production – the projects are seeking international co-production and distribution opportunities. Particularly noteworthy among them are new works by Polish filmmakers such as Paweł Ziemilski, Sylwia Rosiak and Michał Marczak, as well as international projects like Romania’s Mother Ship by Ana Vijdea and the Ukrainian-German co-production Youth by Daria Zhuravel. The event is scheduled for 9 May at the State Ethnographic Museum and will be moderated by documentary consultant Martijn te Pas. The session will open with a keynote speech by Mette Hoffmann Meyer, a multi-award-winning executive producer and former head of Documentaries at Danish TV.

The participating teams will be competing for several awards, including the Canal+ Poland Prize (€3,000 in cash); the SMAKJAM Award, which includes colour-correction services worth 15,000 PLN (€3,500); the Polish Filmmakers Association Award, a cash prize of 10,000 PLN (€2,330); and the SOUNDMIND Award, offering sound post-production services worth 10,000 PLN. This year, the prize pool has been expanded to include the Visioni dal Mondo Award, which grants accreditation for and participation in the Visioni dal Mondo pitching session in Milan.

The Progress Pitching Session is just one of the five pitching sessions slated to occur within MDAG Industry this year. The remaining ones include the Short Pitch Programme, highlighting five short documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe, selected in partnership with the Institute of Documentary Film (see the line-up); Pole Position, showcasing completed Polish films featured in the 22nd Millennium Docs Against Gravity programme (see the news and the line-up); the sixth Documentary Film Forum for Young Audiences, featuring presentations of film projects aimed at young viewers from the fifth edition of the programme (see the programme); and the inaugural Xtended Pitch, dedicated to four XR (extended reality), AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) projects at various stages of production (see the line-up).

The MDAG Industry programme opens with the KIPA Breakfast, a networking event organised by the Polish Producers Alliance (KIPA) in collaboration with its Documentary Film Producers and Young Producers sections, offering producers, distributors and filmmakers a space to connect. The following day, the panel “International Documentary Co-productions – Opportunity or Challenge?” – featuring Katarzyna Kuczyńska (Haka Films), Anders Bruus (DR) and Sara Yamashita Rüster (Swedish Film Institute), and moderated by Cineuropa’s own Ola Salwa – examines the benefits and challenges of cross-border collaboration. Later, Korean expert Kim Young Woo will present “Global Stories, Local Audiences”, a lecture on co-production and distribution opportunities for European documentaries in Asia.

On 11 May, two key sessions will take place: the workshop “The Short Documentary Market in a Nutshell”, led by Emilia Mazik and Mathieu Janssen, offers practical tips on festival strategy and distribution for emerging filmmakers; and the “Anti-Masterclass with Mark Cousins”, hosted by MDAG artistic director Karol Piekarczyk, explores Cousins’ unique storytelling approach and visual language. On 12 May, sound designers Nicolas Becker and Peter Albrechtsen lead the master class “Creating Immersive Audio in Documentary”, sharing their process underpinning Viktor by Olivier Sarbil. Also that day, Fatih Abay hosts “Social Sustainability in European Film Production”, addressing how to embed ethical and environmental practices in filmmaking.

On the final day, the focus shifts to technology and personalised industry support. In “AI & Me: Judged by Algorithms”, creators Daniela Nedovescu and Octavian Mot explore human-AI interaction and the creative process behind their interactive XR installation. The day also features Round Table Consultations, offering hour-long sessions with experts like Jan Rofekamp, Mark Edwards, Anas Khelawy, Anne Rethfeldt, Francesco Bizzarri and Marek Hovorka, providing tailored advice on funding, distribution and co-production in a collaborative environment.

Here are the ten projects selected for the Progress Pitching Session:

Always Far Away – Roman Ďuriš (Slovakia) - Presented at East Doc Forum
Producer: Richard Šimeček

Lessons from "Chemistry" – Magda Grudniewska (Poland)
Producers: Karol Zagórski, Pauline Tran van Lieu

Beavers – Paweł Hejbudzk (Poland)
Producer: Natalia Grzegorzek

How to Bury a Hole – Piotr Jasiński (Poland/Czech Republic/USA)
Producers: Małgorzata Prociak, Radim Procházka, Michael Kalb

Closure – Michał Marczak (Poland)
Producer: Monika Braid

Missing in Action – Marharyta Melnychuk, Kateryna Holovko (Ukraine) - (Presented at CPH:FORUM – CHANGE)
Producer: Aliona Kachkan

Becoming Christine Granville – Sylwia Rosak (Poland)
Producers: Justyna Kluczewska, Maciek Ostatek

Mother Ship – Ana Vijdea (Romania)
Producers: Ana Gheorghe, Ana Vijdea

Youth – Daria Zhuravel (Ukraine/Germany)
Producer: Anastasiia Zakhilko

Love Letters – Paweł Ziemilski (Poland)
Producers: Paweł Ziemilski, Mateusz Wajda, Alicja Gancarz (MX35)