Bank Millennium Awards at the 19th MDAG – Grand Prix and support for Ukrainian cinema

Due to the situation in Ukraine, Bank Millennium funded two special awards. The second of them, for the best new film project from Eastern Europe, has been given to Ukrainian filmmakers Tetiana Dorodnitsyna and Andriy Litvinenko for the film "Mother of Angels".

Justification for the Bank Millennium Award for the Director of the Best Ukrainian Film: "Infinity According to Florian,” directed by Oleksiy Radynski - “For presenting to the world Florian Yuriev, one of Ukraine’s most extraordinary artists. For fighting the narrative describing Ukraine as a country reduced to war. For proving that, in the end, spirituality and art will always prevail over ruthless capital.”

Justification for the Bank Millennium Award for the Best New Film Project from Eastern Europe presented during the pitching of Eastern Europe Against Gravity projects: “Mother of Angels” directed by Tetiana Dorodnitsyna and Andrij Litvinenko – It is a film project that has all the hallmarks of a story that is both very intimate and universal, one that viewers throughout the world can relate to, and making us rethink what we consider the essence of humanity”.

Grand Prix - Bank Millennium Award: “The Pawnshop”, directed by Łukasz Kowalski

There were 12 films contending for the Grand Prix - Bank Millennium Award - in the Main Competition of the 16th Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival. The best one has been selected by the jury composed of: Milenia Fiedler – rector of the Film School in Łódź, film editor. David France – film director nominated for an Oscar® for the film "How to Survive a Plague"; Tamara Kotevska – film director nominated for an Oscar® for the film "Land of Honey", which she directed with Ljubomir Stefanov.

Justification: It may seem that it is easier to make documentaries about unusual topics and characters, because everyone sees something shocking in them. However, one should admire documentary cinema “craftsmen”, who can create an extraordinary story, telling about the most down-to-earth topics and characters that we ignore every day. This film, in an extremely natural way, follows the stories of several inconspicuous people in seemingly commonplace situations. But what we in fact see are amazing heroes who try to save others from "drowning", despite being themselves on a "sinking ship". It seems increasingly difficult to find humour in the surrounding world, but the film’s protagonists still manage to find the most universal, human ways to make us laugh. Trapped in their own sorrows and misfortunes, they do not realise their own uniqueness. The director of the film has done such a wonderful job, carefully studying the many layers of his characters. This is a beautiful example that life should be valued in its most banal simplicity. "Lombard" proves that in order to spot an exceptional story, we, the authors, should keep our eyes wide open to all the "nooks and crannies" of our reality...

Bank Millennium has been sponsoring the Festival and funding the Grand Prix already since 2006.

More about the bank’s sponsoring at: https://www.bankmillennium.pl/o-banku/centrum-prasowe/mecenat-kultury
https://raportroczny.bankmillennium.pl/2021/pl/raport-esg/spoleczenstwo-society/bank-w-otoczeniu-spolecznym/dzialalnosc-spoleczna/mecenat-kultury/

For more about the festival go to:
www.mdag.pllink otwiera się w nowym oknie