From October 27 to 29, we invite you to the Emigration Museum in Gdynia for the 21st Documentary Film Festival WATCH DOCS. Human Rights in Film. It’s a unique opportunity for reflection and exploration of important social and cultural topics. Don’t miss this event! Admission is free.
„Watch Docs” is one of the two largest human rights-focused film events globally, organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights since 2001.
Over three days, we will present documentary films related to human rights, identity, ecology, the fight for freedom, and the intriguing theme of everyday life, particularly relevant in 2023. Screenings will be preceded by introductions prepared by experts addressing contemporary civilizational issues.
📅 When: October 27-29, 2023
📍 Where: Emigration Museum in Gdynia / Cinema Hall
💰 Cost: FREE ADMISSION! Limited seating available.
FILM SCREENING PROGRAM:
27.10.2023 (Friday)
- 18:00 – Lecture by Karolina Cieślik-Jakubiak (Sound Barriers)
- 18:30 – „By the Throat” (100 min)
Accent and dialect, the way we speak, are inseparably linked to our identity. Everyone who has learned the correct pronunciation of words in a foreign language has experienced this. In conflict zones, refugee centers, and checkpoints, the sounds we utter can sometimes determine life or death. In this context, Wittgenstein’s words about the limits of language being the limits of the world sound like a verdict. In Iraq, Israel, Northern Ireland, or even in Germany, where linguistic tests, although still imperfect, are used to verify the origin of asylum seekers, our anatomical and sound limitations become evident. The film explores how language has become a tool of control.
Marta Lityńska
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20:30 – „You can’t show my face” (24 min)
The recent wave of protests indicates that Iran is undergoing change. Despite a ban on filming in the streets, the creators of this film utilize hidden cameras and microphones to showcase the hip-hop underground scene in Tehran. Individuals in this underground world express themselves despite police terror and pervasive surveillance. The soundtrack is composed of sampled sounds from the city streets, reflecting a desire for rebellion.
Konrad Wirkowski
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21:00 – „Beirut Dreams in Color” (28 min)
Mashrou’ Leila is one of the most popular pop bands in the Middle East. A concert in Cairo, where rainbow flags appeared in the audience, irreversibly changed the lives of the group members and their fans. „Beirut Dreams in Color” provides a better understanding of the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in the Arab world.
Zuzanna Połynko
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28.10.2023 (Saturday)
- 12:00 – Lecture with Aleksandra Włodarczyk (Fight for the Future)
- 12:30 – „Fashion Reimagined” (100 min)
Fashion designer Amy Powney, the creative director of the brand Mother of Pearl, doesn’t mince words – the fashion industry as we know it has nothing to do with environmental protection, respect for workers’ rights, or concern for animals. Therefore, when she receives the Vogue award for emerging British fashion star, she decides to allocate the entire amount to a real revolution in the industry. Along with her assistant, she embarks on a journey full of surprises to find materials for creating a collection where neither animals nor humans suffer. She aims to create a completely sustainable clothing line. Becky Hutner’s full-length debut exposes the dark side of the fashion industry while offering hope that positive change is possible. Especially when one has a bit of courage and determination. The question remains: Is the world of fashion ready for it?
Zuzanna Połynko
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14:30 – „The Smell of Money” (84 min)
Welcome to North Carolina – a state where residents, both human and animal, endure a hellish existence caused by the world’s largest producer of pork. The eastern part of the state is predominantly inhabited by a low-income African American community. It is there that the Smithfield corporation decided to build massive pig farms, cutting costs in the process. None of the locals believe in the company’s flagship slogan: „Good Food. Responsibly.” Everyone witnesses how day by day, liters of pig waste are sprayed across the area, and the stench, despite closed windows, infiltrates homes. Contaminated water and air, health issues, and the suffering of animals prompt residents to fight for justice. „The Smell of Money” reveals the putrid secrets of industrial pig farming, not forgetting the people who have become victims of ruthless profit pursuit. Pursuits that take lives, not only of animals.
Zuzanna Połynko
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16:00 – „All That Breathes” (94 min)
Two brothers in New Delhi strive to save predatory birds, crucial elements of the urban ecosystem. Meanwhile, their city is plunging into ecological, political, and social chaos.
New Delhi: a city suffocating from smog that kills both humans and animals. Even birds lack oxygen, and they increasingly fall from the sky. Fortunately, there are people willing to help. Saud and Nadeem dedicate themselves to rescuing kites – large predatory birds essential for the functioning of the urban ecosystem. The brothers, with moments free from work, search for injured animals, bringing them to the basement, serving as an improvised veterinary clinic. They lack resources, personnel, and support, yet they persistently fight to prevent these beautiful predators from disappearing from the sky above the city. Meanwhile, Delhi sinks into deeper political, ecological, and social chaos. Nature rebels against humanity, and the streets are ruled by violence.
Marta Lityńska
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29.10.2023 (Sunday)
- 12:00 – Lecture featuring Magdalena Lesińska – (Practices of Struggle and Resistance)
- 12:30 – „Young Belarus” (53 min)
Young Belarusians – forced into emigration after the brutal suppression of anti-government protests in the fall of 2020 – do not give up. Like the protagonist in the film, a presenter from the NEXTA channel who fled the country and tries to find his place in the new Polish reality. But living in limbo is challenging. Andrey’s life is, on one hand, filled with hip-hop, tattoos, and parties, and on the other hand, nostalgia, a sense of despair, and worsening news from Belarus that he reports daily on the air. Will this generation of young people, deeply affected by the trauma of the failed uprising for freedom and militia repression, find the strength to continue fighting for democracy? How will their situation be impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which their country is participating alongside the aggressor?
Konrad Wirkowski
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13:45 – „Overcoming the Darkness” (80 min)
Bombarded by media images of the war in Ukraine, we often stopped paying attention to the ongoing reports from the front. „Overcoming the Darkness” is an attempt to show life that unfolds somewhere behind the scenes, beyond the direct combat zone. What does war look like from the perspective of civilians? What are the dreams of retirees who, on a bombed-out estate, have to cope without water and electricity for weeks? What can be salvaged in a few minutes from a ruined apartment hit by a Russian missile? What games do the children play whose parents are on the front line? Ukrainian filmmakers from the Kinodopomoha collective capture situations in various parts of the country in real-time, creating an image of a society facing an unimaginable tragedy, demonstrating admirable resilience.
Konrad Wirkowski
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15:30 – „Ghosts of Moria” (25 min)
When Europe’s largest refugee camp, known as Moria, burned on September 9, 2020, some of its inhabitants chose to stay amid the charred ruins. Ayham and Khalil attempt to survive in a place reminiscent of a devastated Syria. How much can be earned from selling salvaged scrap from the rubble? What will be the outcome of the odyssey of these Syrian Robinsons?
Konrad Wirkowski
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The festival is organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in collaboration with the Museum of Emigration in Gdynia.
Co-financing: City of Warsaw, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Open Society Foundations.
Festival partners: Supreme Bar Council, Rainbow.
Media patrons: OKO.press, ngo.pl
About the speakers:
Karolina Cieślik-Jakubiak – a journalist and a student of Iranian studies. She has a scholarly interest in the history of Iranian nationalism and discourses of ethnicity in the Middle East. She prefers to write about Iran and the history of Islam, collaborating with publications such as Krytyka Polityczna, Magazyn Kontakt, and Glissando. As a hobby, she follows the intersections of nationalism and popular culture in Iran.
Aleksandra Włodarczyk – an expert in sustainable fashion, educator, and the author of the portal swiadomykonsumentmody.pl. She is the owner of an agency that provides support to clothing companies in sourcing sustainable solutions.
Having an in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry, she worked for 18 years in various areas such as brand management, product management, and retail. She collaborated with brands like Dr. Martens, Pepe Jeans, Replay, Skechers, Orsay, Top Secret, Reserved, House, Cropp, Tatuum, Medicine, Diverse, and Quiosque. For the past 10 years, she has specialized in sourcing raw materials and factories for fashion production, as well as purchasing both mass-market and sustainable fashion. She ran her own agency in this field for 8 years, serving large Polish retail brands.
Dr. hab. Magdalena Lesińska – Deputy Director at the Center for Migration Research at the University of Warsaw. She is also the Chair of the Committee on Migration Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences. A graduate of the Central European University in Budapest and the University of Wrocław, she received a scholarship from the Kościuszko Foundation. Her main areas of research interest include the home state’s policy towards the diaspora and the political activities of Poles and the Polish diaspora abroad. Her recent research projects focus on the Belarusian diaspora in Poland. She is the author and editor of numerous publications, including monographs, articles, and scientific reviews. Her latest books include „30 Lectures on Migrations” (2023; co-editor Marek Okólski) and „Complex Relationships – Political Relations between the Home State and the Diaspora. Poland and the Polish Diaspora during the 1989 Transition and Beyond” (2019).
