Full film programme and the Lower Silesia Grand Prix during the 20th edition of MDAG

Wrocław Judiciary for the 20th edition of MDAG

In 2023 the judiciary will consist of three people, who are to award the best picture in the Main Competition with the Award of the Marshall of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in the amount of €3000. The adjudicators are as follows:

Kostiantyn Pochtar – a Ukrainian musician, multi-instrumentalist, and a songwriter. His life is split between Wrocław and Kyiv, where he was one of the founders of an indie music band 5 Vymir, the albums of which are considered to be some of the most interesting on the indie music scene of Ukraine. Currently he performs under the pseudonym Postman. He has performed in hundreds of concerts in many European countries, and the year 2022 he spent on a charity tour called #StandWithUkraine. He graduated from the Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television with the Sound Engineering degree.

Magdalena Barbaruk, PhD – works at the University of Wrocław’s Institute of Cultural Studies, she deals with the causality of literature, its impact on lifestyles and the mapping of space. The author of “The Long Shadow of Don Quixote” and “Sensy błądzenia. La Mancha i jej peryferie,” as well as a documentary “Erroneous maps,” in which she experiments with the essay format and audio-visual tools. Born in Wrocław, raised with a view of the cinema, as well as in the cinema itself: her playground was the Warszawa Theatre (today known as DCF).

Kamil Bałuk – a reporter, journalist, graduated from the College of Interdisciplinary Individual Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Wrocław, as well as from Sociology, Dutch Philology, and Polish Reportage Institute. The author of books: “All Louis’ Children” and “Wodecki. That’s how it turned out.” Published in magazines “Duży Format,” “Przekrój,” “Wysokie Obcasy.” Has a podcast called “Dawno temu w telewizji” on the Newonce radio station.

The Big Twelve in MDAG’s Main Competition

This year a total of 12 films qualified for the Main Competition. Amongst the candidates was, amongst others, “Apolonia, Apolonia.” The director of the documentary, Lea Glob, first met the title character Apolonia Sokol in 2009. Over the following years Glob kept coming back to meet Apolonia occasionally, thereby building a special bond. In the film we follow Apolonia’s battle for success in the world of art and culture, which turns out to be a difficult one. “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” directed by Laura Poitras is an amazing portrait of Nan Goldin – a legendary photographer and an activist, who is currently battling with a pharmaceutical company of the Sackler’s family, partially responsible for the opioid crisis in the United States. On the other hand, “Against the Tide” (directed by Sarvnik Kaur) tells the story of Rakesh and Ganesh, who consider themselves brothers. Both are fishermen from a native society Koli in Bombay. Both, however, choose to walk through life in different ways. Following the complex trajectories of the lives of the characters, we dive deep into the story of perseverence, of the fragility of friendship and of appreciation and respect to the beauty of nature, crushed by the negative effects of climate change. “Innocence” by Guy Davidi concerns itself with the militarisation of Isreali society. The characters of the film are young people, who decided to stand against the societal and administrative pressure. The narration of the picture consists of their moving diary entries, family videos and recordings from the military service, which many do not manage to withstand.

In the documentary “We Will Not Fade Away” (directed by Alisa Kovalenko) we follow the story of five Ukrainian teenagers, who grow up in small towns in Donbas. Just like their peers from all over the world, they struggle with many frustrations related to the search of one’s own identity. As the situation in Ukraine keeps getting worse and the threat of a full-scale Russian invasion becomes more likely, a big question mark begins to hang over all their hopes and dreams. In Jakub Piątek’s film “Pianoforte” we meet a few contestants of the Chopin Competition, all coming from various parts of the world. Since early childhood, their lives have revolved around playing the piano. All share similar dreams, and all will be ruthlessly evaluated by the system of the competition. The visually and musically spectacular “Whale Nation” (directed by Jean-Albert Lièvre) warns against the hazards lurking in the oceans and endangering whales, as well as the consequences we might come to face if the animals are no longer around. “Under the Sky of Damascus” directed by Heba Khaled, Talal Derki and Ali Wajeeh talks about a group of friends – three women, who begin to work on a play which is meant to depict the misogyny, sexism, sexual abuse, and the everyday lives of the women in Syria. The theatrical project turns out to be equally controversial and dangerous.

Lizzie MacKenzie’s “The Hermit of Treig” was also qualified for the competition’s Big Twelve. The main character of the film is Ken Smith, who has lived off-the-grid and in solitude by Loch Treig in northern Scotland for 40 years. He gets by, using whatever nature offers. The director subtly follows his everyday life. “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” by Anna Hints talks about a group of women, who all gather at a traditional Estonian sauna, to collectively share their deepest secrets, reflections and to draw from the power of their small community. Surrounded by smoke and heat, they expose not only their bodies, but also their emotions. “Theatre of Violence” (directed by Emil Langballe, Łukasz Konopa) asks an incredibly difficult question about the essence of justice. The film talks about a man, who used to be child-soldier, and then as an adult faced war crimes allegations against the International Criminal Court of Hague. Lastly, “Bad Press” (directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler) is a documentary about free media. When the native-american Muscogee Nation’s local parliament wants to remove an entry about the free press (as the seed of a political campaign and an attempt to take control of the media), a local paper and its team with Angel Ellis in the forefront decides to step in and take action.

Lower Silesian Grand Prix Awards Gala and the screening of “Werner Herzog – Radical Dreamer”

The Award Ceremony will take place on Thursday, 18th of May at 7:00 PM in the Lower Silesian Film Centre. The Gala will be accompanied by the screening of “Werner Herzog – Radical Dreamer” directed by Thomas von Steinaecker. Herzog – the master of filmmaking, an artist, a poet, the seeker of the truth, a traveller in a colonial helmet, a brand, a meme, an actor, an original impossible to copy, the predictor of a disaster, a legend… No one is capable of talking about the history like he is, but the story about him is equally fascinating. In the film, in addition to archival footage and interviews shown for the first time, there are also accounts from Nicole Kidman, Chloe Zao, Patti Smith, Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson and the artist’s wife – Lena Herzog and her brother.

The sale of tickets for all film screenings starts on 26th of April, as part of the 20th edition of MDAG. The tickets will be available on mdag.pl and at the box office of the Lower Silesian Film Centre.

The 20th anniversary edition of MDAG in Wrocław will take place from 12th to 21st of May 2023 at the Lower Silesian Film Centre, and the online part from 23rd of May to 4th of June on the mdag.pl platform. The titular patron of the festival is the Millenium Bank (www.bankmillennium.pl).

Press materials: HERE.

Media contact: Joanna Panciuchin, joanna@againstgravity.pl, 537 073 638

Translated by Weronika Maciejewska (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.