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ESG Report of Bank Millennium
and the Bank Millennium Group for 2021
3.8.3. PATRONAGE OF CULTURE
For more than 30 years, cultural involvement has been an important part of Bank Millennium’s social
activities. The Bank supports cultural undertakings with a national and local range alike. It is a 360°
patron of culture as it promotes art in nearly all its manifestations, including music, painting,
sculpture, film, theatre, photography, literature and performance. Bank Millennium’s interest spans
niche and popular culture. Its assumption is to be a long-term partner. For 17 years, the Bank funded
the Golden Sceptre award for outstanding creators of culture, for 11 years, the Bank was the patron
of the “Millennium Pearls” (“Perły Millennium”) joint program of Bank Millennium and Polish TV (TVP),
whose purpose was to produce, promote and present artistic events in the high art realm on Polish
TV. For 17 years, the Bank was a sponsor of the Złota Tarka [Golden Grater] Old Jazz Meeting, an
International Traditional Jazz Festival. For many years it has also supported the Sacrum Profanum
contemporary music festival, the Bella Skyway Festival - a multimedia show prepared by an
international group of artists, the "Two Theatres" Festival, the Gdańsk Music Festival, the Mozart
Festival in the Warsaw Chamber Opera, and many others.
In 2021, Bank Millennium was awarded for its involvement in the promotion of culture - with the
Culture Atlas title for the 6th time by the Kraków Festival Office for its sponsorship of the Sacrum
Profanum festival. In turn, in the Golden Banker competition, the Bank Millennium-supported
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, together with the 2020 Docs Against Isolation event,
were recognized by Internet users, taking the second place on the podium in the "Golden Banker"
competition in the "Socially Sensitive Bank" category.
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival
The Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival was the most important cultural project endorsed
by the Bank in 2021. It is the largest film festival in Poland and a major documentary film festival in
the world. Bank Millennium has been a partner of the Festival for 16 years and has signed an
agreement to extend its cooperation for 2022-2024.
In September 2021, the 18th edition of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival took place, for
the second time in the hybrid formula. Bank Millennium and the festival organizer met the needs and
expectations of all fans of culture by giving them access to 150 documentary films from around the
world in cinema halls in seven cities and online on the festival platform. Additionally, as part of the
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival Weekend event, selected films were presented in 27 cities
in Poland. The festival is not only about film screenings, but also debates and initiatives concerning
important social issues, such as ecology or diversity. The 2021 hybrid edition of the Festival attracted
a total audience of 134,000.
The Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival is the biggest celebration of documentary cinema
in Poland and its popularity is growing every year. The authors of the festival, as well as its sponsor -
Bank Millennium - want to bring knowledge about the modern world to as many people as possible.
The festival owes its intensive development, among other things, to its nomadic character. The
festival's presence in multiple cities and, starting in 2020, online, allows the best documentaries from
around the world to reach a wide audience. Thanks to that Millennium Docs Against Gravity achieves
its main goals - film and social education, brining audiovisual culture to a wide audience (not only in
big cities) and bringing emotions.
Bank Millennium extends the barrier-free community concept also in the non-banking sphere. In 2021,
for the third consecutive year, during the 18th edition of the festival, selected films were available
with audio description and voice-over, making it easier for people with visual impairments to access
the world of culture.