MICHAŁ MARCZAK'S "CLOSURE" AWARDED IN THESSALONIKI
"Closure", directed by Michał Marczak has been awarded the Golden Alexander in the international competition at the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival. The prizes for this year's edition were announced on 15 March 2026. This significant accolade strengthens the film's standing on its festival journey and opens new doors to international recognition – the winner of this section automatically becomes eligible to pursue qualification for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
In its statement, the jury noted that “the Golden Alexander goes to a film that fully explores the possibilities of cinema, allowing us to experience the inner life of a father in an unbearable state, and lending a radical presence to that which has been marked by absence”. The significance of this verdict is all the greater given that Michał Marczak returned to Thessaloniki just a year after presenting the project at the Agora Thessaloniki Pitching Forum.
Closure began its festival journey this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was selected for competition. The film is an intimate documentary about Daniel, who, following the disappearance of his teenage son, combs the waters of the Vistula River in search of any trace. Suspended between paralysing dread of the worst and a stubborn hope that the boy may still be alive, Daniel exists in a state of emotional stasis. Marczak – a filmmaker who is consistently refining his distinctive cinematic language at the intersection of documentary and fiction – allows the camera to 'drift' between the river’s calm surface and the dark secrets of its depths, constructing an image of grief as something unending, physical, and obsessive.
The success of Closure resonated even more powerfully given that this year's edition of the Thessaloniki festival featured a notably strong Polish presence. In the main competition, alongside Marczak's film, the audience also got to see Candidates of Death by Maciej Cuske, receiving its world premiere. The Open Horizon section showcased The Queen and the Smokehouse by Iga Lis, Hidden by Monika Kotecka, and the co-productions Traces and The Ground Beneath Our Feet. The programme further included Trains by Maciej J. Drygas, which was invited to the special section All the Memory of the World, dedicated to outstanding contemporary found footage films and questions of historical memory.
The award for Closure proved one of the most notable Polish highlights at this year's Thessaloniki festival, confirming the strong position of Michał Marczak's film on the international documentary stage.
You can read more about the awarded productions here.