The 20th edition of the Watch Docs. Human Rights in Film festival has started its tour through Poland. In many cities starting from Warsaw and ending in provincial Żywiec there are free screenings of documentary movies that advocate for human rights.
The “Watch Docs. Human Rights in Film” is an initiative of the International Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, an organization that educates people about their rights, teaches how to protect them and provides juridical and financial help in case of violations. The festival started in 2001 and every year since it gives out awards for best documentaries, and those movies are later shown in the tour through Polish cities.
Watch Docs is a wordplay on expressions public watchdog and watch documentaries. The point of the festival is to present movies that talk about social issues and raise awareness about how human rights are or are not enforced. The viewers are able to watch documentaries for free, meet up with experts, listen to debates and see photography exhibitions. Thanks to those events they’re able to recognise any foul techniques governments use to manipulate masses and can fight for the proper execution of their rights.
Among the movies screened in this year’s edition there’s As I Want (2021, Samaher Alquadi), The Story Won’t Die (2021, David Henry Gerson) and Pushing Boundaries (2020) directed by Lesia Kordonets, a movie following the Russian’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
You can see the schedule of the shows here.