Photography and us at Millennium Docs Against Gravity
An exhibition by Ernest Cole, a crazy Photorulette with Karolina Wojtas, sight yoga (!) and a new film section – photography has taken a prominent place in the Millennium Docs Against Gravity program this year.
Millennium Docs Against Gravity is the second largest documentary film festival in Europe. This year its 22nd edition will take place between May 9 and 18 – in Warsaw, Lodz and five other cities in Poland.
And we? We’re not just cheering – we’re partnering with the new film section On Photography and co-organizing two Warsaw special events that will connect the eye with the heart.
Ticket sales for all screenings and events began today. Here’s our guide to the festival program and its photographic highlights. Read on, make your picks and we’ll see you there!
🎲 PHOTO ROULETTE WITH KAROLINA WOJTAS
May 17 (Saturday), 2:00 PM
State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw
🎟 Ticket: 60 PLN (includes film + workshop) workshop held in Polish
Get ready to switch off your brain and turn up the fun. No time to overthink — just music, improvisation, pure reaction, and emotion. The eye sees, the hand clicks, and the head? Let it rest.
This co-created event is a wild mix of photo roulette and 7-minute challenges built like a fast-paced game. It will be led by Karolina Wojtas, one of the boldest and most original voices in photography today (Fotofestiwal Futures Talent, 2019).
Expect the unexpected: things might get weird, things might get wonky — but they’ll be real. Sometimes the best photos come from total chaos.
📍Tickets here: LINK
👁 SIGHT YOGA – An Introduction to Conscious Seeing
May 10, 12:00 PM
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
🆓 Free 2-hour workshop, in Polish
Led by: Basia Budniak & Wirginia Cristin
Can we trust what we see? How do we activate our vision in the dark? Can perception be trained?
This workshop blends theory with hands-on practice. Participants will explore eye yoga techniques to sharpen visual sensitivity and unlock a more creative way of seeing. The session also includes a look at artistic attempts to trick the eye and bend perception.
⚠️ Very limited spots available. Registration opens April 24. Don’t wait!
📍 More info: Facebook event
🎬 OPENING FILM: Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Directed by: Raoul Peck
Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) returns to Millennium Docs Against Gravity with his latest documentary, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.
The film tells the story of one of South Africa’s first Black independent photographers. His groundbreaking book House of Bondage, banned in his home country, became an iconic testament to the horrors of apartheid and cemented Cole’s place as one of the most important photographers of his generation — all by the age of 27.
After his death, more than 60,000 lost negatives were discovered.
📍 Part of the On Photography section
🎟 Tickets for the Opening Gala and screenings: HERE
🖼 EXHIBITION: Ernest Cole – Photographer in Exile
Starting May 7 at the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw
On view until August 31
For the impatient ones — this is the first program event launching two days before the festival begins. The first-ever presentation of Ernest Cole’s work in Poland, created in collaboration with Autograph Gallery (London) and Magnum Photos.
The exhibition focuses on Cole’s time in New York — a period of intense creative activity and a peak moment in the fight for civil rights for Black Americans.
📍 More information: HERE
📸 NEW FILM SECTION: ON PHOTOGRAPHY
They didn’t just document key events, people, or social changes. For the photographers featured in this new MDAG section — which we’re proud to partner with — photography is a language. A way of communicating with the world. A passion that became a way of (sur)living. These are the themes explored in the films of our new On Photography section.
1. I Am Martin Parr
Dir. Lee Shulman / France / 2024 / 67 min
No introduction of this sir is needed for our audience — this film is a celebration of Parr’s 50-year career, reflecting his distinctive voice in photography. Its quirky, candid style mirrors the artist himself. More information.
(Sneak peek: Want to be the first to have a preview on Parr’s upcoming book? Join us at Fotofestiwal.)
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2. World Between Us
Dir. Maria Dvořáková / Czech Republic, Slovakia / 2024 / 93 min
Maria Tomanová left her Czech hometown of Mikulov to work as an au pair in the U.S. Today, she’s photographing for major fashion magazines like Vogue. This film follows five years in the life of Maria and her partner, art historian Thomas Beachdel — a story of emotional photography and intellectual interpretation. More information.
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3. Viktor
Dir. Olivier Sarbil / Denmark, France, Ukraine, USA / 2024 / 91 min
Viktor dreams of becoming a soldier — but when war reaches Ukraine, his deafness keeps him off the battlefield. Instead, he picks up a camera and begins to search for his place in a conflict he cannot hear. Directed by Emmy®-winning war photographer and cinematographer Olivier Sarbil. More information.
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4. A Photographic Memory
Dir. Rachel Elizabeth Seed / USA / 2024 / 85 min
In the 1970s, Sheila Turner-Seed recorded over 50 hours of interviews with some of the greatest photographers of the 20th century — including Henri Cartier-Bresson (who called it his best interview), Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, and W. Eugene Smith. Her daughter, filmmaker and photographer Rachel Elizabeth Seed, discovers this archive and reclaims both her mother’s story and her own. More information.
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Also featured in this section:
🎞️ Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Legend — the film we highlighted as the festival’s opening screening.
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We also recommend keeping an eye out for “Kompleta”, a remarkable documentary by Magda Hueckel, featured in the Polish Competition. Hueckel is the artist behind last year’s Fotofestiwal exhibition “Nudes”. More information.
Some of the selected films will also be shown during the Łódź edition of the festival, in the online program, and (surprise!) at Fotofestiwal.
