The 7th edition of PLANETE DOC REVIEW festival was held between May 7th and 16th, 2010 in Warsaw and between May 7th and 9th in 20 Polish cities. In 2009, the festival won the prestigious award from the Polish Film Institute for being “the most important film event” in Poland. It also received the Wdecha award from Gazeta Wyborcza daily as “Warsaw's most interesting cultural event” of 2008. Last year, over 25000 viewers attended the festival screenings in Kinoteka cinema, placing Planete Doc Review as the third most popular documentary film festival in Europe.

This year saw a record-breaking number of film entries. Out of the hundreds of films submitted, festival organizers chose 152 documentaries and grouped them into the following film sections: Political Science, Fetish and Culture, Intimate Stories, Future Doc-Shock, Heroes Among Us, The Middle East, Conflict and YOU, Climate for Change, Promised cities, China reloaded, Muse and Inspiration, Anima Planet and Special Projects. The festival also featured film retrospectives of Alan Berliner, Nicolas Philibert and screenings of films by Werner Herzog (3xHerzog), while Iluzjon cinema in Warsaw screened “Greatest hits of Planete Doc Review”, presenting best films from previous editions of the festival.

Apart from the awards presented in past editions, which include:
- MILLENNIUM AWARD (the main prize),
- MAGIC HOUR AWARD for the best film under 70 minutes,
- AUDIENCE AWARD,
- AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AWARD for the best film about human rights (the award is presented in Poland at PLANETE DOC REVIEW festival only),
- PANASONIC GREEN AWARD for the best film about environmental issues,
- ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE AWARD for the best film presenting the issue of dialogue between different worldviews,

the following were awarded for the first time:
- CHOPIN’S NOSE for best music film
- WARSAW ANIMATION WINNER for best animation
- “FOCUS” MONTHLY AWARD for “the greatest personality of the festival”.

Competing for the MILLENNIUM AWARD were the best full-feature documentaries from around the world, including the latest productions from Berlinale and Sundance, such as Erik Gandini’s “Videocracy” (awards at Toronto and Sheffield IFF), Mads Brügger’s “The Red Chapel” (World Cinema Award at 2010 Sundance FF), Lixin Fan’s “Last Train Home” (2009 Grand Prix at IDFA, Amsterdam), Yael Hersonski’s “A Film Unfinished” (Grand Jury Prize at 2010 Hot Docs in Toronto), “Steam of Life” by Joonas Berghall and Mika Hotakainen (winner of the “International Documentary” competition at 2010 DocAviv festival in Tel Aviv) and the opening film of this year’s Planete Doc Review: “The Cove” by Louie Psihoyos (2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary).

An important event of the festival’s 7th edition was the visit of the famous German filmmaker Werner Herzog between May 7th and 9th. Herzog attended the Q&A sessions following the screenings of his films and led a masterclass for film professionals, journalists and students.
Other guests of the 7th edition of PLANETE DOC REVIEW include a few dozens of Polish and international filmmakers, such as Nicolas Philibert (2002 European Film Award laureate for “To Be and to Have"), Alan Berliner (one of the most prominent American documentary filmmakers, a renowned photographer and video artist), Martin Strange-Hansen (Danish Academy Award laureate for 2003) and Jonathan Caouette (director of the cult film „Tarnation”). PLANETE DOC REVIEW also hosted some of the protagonists of films screened at the festival, including Sebastian Marroquin (featured in “Sins of My Father” by Nicolasa Entela) – son of the legendary drug lord Pablo Escobar and the eccentric Dr NakaMats (protagonist of Kaspar Astrup Schröder’s “The Invention of Dr NakaMats) – the greatest living inventor, creator of the floppy disk, digital watch and over 3200 other inventions, winner of the first-ever FOCUS AWARD for “the greatest personality of the festival”.

The accompanying events’ program of the 7th edition of PLANETE DOC REVIEW festival was equally interesting. Many screenings were followed by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers and debates with the participation of art, media and culture representatives. The debates were hosted by renowned journalists (including Jacek Żakowski, Edwin Bendyk i Marek Ostrowski from Polityka weekly). The festival also featured 4 masterclasses led by Werner Herzog,
Martin Strange-Hansen, Nicolas Philibert and Alan Berliner. Music lovers had a chance to participate in drumming workshops and music parties in Nowy Wspaniały Świat.

Special events accompanied screenings outside Warsaw as well. Thanks to the organization work of local Krytyka Polityczna chapters, debates about the media influence on contemporary society were held in 10 Polish cities as part of the “Weekend with Digital Planete Doc Review”. The debates asked: “Are we living in a Democracy or a Videocracy?” and featured sociologists, journalists, philosophers and commentators.

This year’s development was the festival’s greater presence online. Films from the current and previous editions were available online in the Iplex.pl internet cinema, while festival information and reports were published through various social networks (Faceboook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Blip, Last.fm, Video, Flickr, Picassa, Blox).

The 7th PLANETE DOC REVIEW festival had a record-breaking audience. Between the 7th and 16th of May, over 31 000 viewers attended festival screenings in Kinoteka, Muranów and Iluzjon cinemas in Warsaw. As part of the “Weekend with Digital Planete Doc Review” 6 of the best films featured in this year’s program were screened in 20 Polish cities, gathering a 2600-member audience.

The online screenings available through the Iplex.pl platform proved to be immensely popular. For the first time this year, films from the current and previous festival editions were screened for free and watched by over 37000 netizens.

The Finnish documentary “Steam of Life” was this year’s winner of the Main Millennium Award. Other awards went to the following films: “La Machina” (Audience Award), “At the Edge of Russia” (Magic Hour Award), “Weapon of War” (Amnesty International Award), “Into Eternity” (Panasonic Green Award), “Contact” (Ecumenical Dialogue Award), “Angry Man” (Warsaw Animation Winner), “Full Metal Village” (Chopin’s Nose Award), “Videocracy” (Arthouse Cinemas Network Award). The FOCUS magazine award for the “greatest personality of the festival” went to the genius inventor of the floppy disk, holder of over 3200 patents, Dr NakaMats.