FIPRESCI, the international body for film critics, is to launch the Documentary Grand Prix at Millennium Docs Against Gravity, a documentary film festival in Poland, whose 23rd edition takes place from May 8 to 17.
The award will be given to the best documentary film of the year. The winner, which will be selected through a vote by all members of FIPRESCI, will be announced at the opening ceremony of the MDAG.
Following an initial vote by FIPRESCI members, a shortlist of five nominated films will be announced. The festival will host a screening of the winning film, followed by a talk with the director, moderated by a FIPRESCI representative.
FIPRESCI has juries bestowing awards at numerous festivals around the world, including Cannes, Venice and Toronto, with its pinnacle Grand Prix award presented annually in San Sebastián.
FIPRESCI president Ahmed Shawky said, “FIPRESCI’s commitment to promoting outstanding cinema and defending freedom of expression continues with this new initiative in partnership with MDAG. For more than 25 years, the Grand Prix has been the highest annual award FIPRESCI bestows on a film. Now, it is the right time to extend equivalent recognition to documentary cinema, together with a partner festival that shares our values. The FIPRESCI Documentary Grand Prix will become the critics’ flagship annual award, and we are happy that MDAG will be its home.”
Karol Piekarczyk, artistic director of MDAG, said, “The fact that FIPRESCI chose Millennium Docs Against Gravity to be the place where this award will be presented each year is such an amazing recognition for us, that we are beyond words. It is a testament to the work of all of our team, of the hundreds of volunteers at each edition and to the whole documentary industry which became part of the MDAG family.
“This privilege for me personally is a signpost, which will remind us, whilst preparing for every new edition of the festival, why we are here, what our mission is and how lucky we are that we can work with such incredible films and filmmakers.”
In addition to the Documentary Grand Prix, starting 2026, MDAG will host a three-member FIPRESCI jury, which will award its prize to the best film in the main competition.
Millennium Docs Against Gravity will take place in theaters in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz and Łódź, and online from May 19 to June 1 at mdag.pl.