In addition to the competition, the Festival’s permanent thematic sections included the “Discreet Charm of Propaganda,” “Close-ups,” this year devoted to post-Soviet states, and “I Want to See,” with films on current events. This year, four thematic retrospectives round out the program, including “The Money is Doing Fine” – about the relationships between money, power structures and human rights violations, as well as “Cinematic resistance – documentary underground” rife with subversive documentaries made without the knowledge or consent of authorities.
The Opening Film was „The Kingdom of Dead Mice” directed by Viktor Daszuk. It is a constant spectacle of the regime’s propaganda excesses, which reach the epitome of absurdity in attempts to create a plebian phantasmagoria of power. Lukashenka appears a dangerous psychopath, much like a Caligari leading his country into the abyss using sociotechnical tricks. In a film that relies mostly on official footage from Belarusian television, Dashuk devotes an equal amount of time to all those who take part in the dictatorship for money, career or just to be left in peace. With bitter sarcasm he exposes sycophants, politicians that laugh in public at the tyrant’s jokes, and artist-sellouts whose only task is to legitimize the existing system.
The first weekend of WATCH DOCS was very successful. All screenings – both in the Muranów cinema and in the Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski castle were full.
Over the weekend, thirteen festival guests have met with the public, including among others: Judith Ehrilch (“The Most Dangerous Man in America”), Andrei Schwartz (“The Pier of Apolonovka”), Viletta ayala and Dan Fallshaw (“Stolen”), Andre Schreuders (“From the Heart of Odessa”), Sylvia Nagel (“China’s Public Enemy no 1”), and Viktar Dashuk – director of the opening film of WATCH DOCS – “Kingdom of the Dead Mice”). On Monday we especially invite everybody to the screening of acclaimed “Arrivals” (Muranów Cinema at 8 p.m.) – which won this year the Golden Dove Award at the DOK Lepzig festival. The screening will be followed by the Q & A session with the directors of the film – Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard, moderated by Anna Husarska – senior policy advisor of the IRC.
During the closing Ceremony of the 9th International Film Festival WATCH DOCS Human Rights in Film, the jury consisting of: cinematographer and director Jacek Petrycki (Poland, Chair of the Jury), Julia Sereda („Memorial”, Russia), Taco Ruighaver („Movies That Matter”, The Netherlands), Jean-Gabriel Périot (filmmaker, France) has announced its verdict. This year’s WATCH DOCS Award for the best film of the Festival goes to French filmmakers: Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard – directors of the film „The Arrivals” / „Les Arrivants”: „For an extremely moving portrait of the complex reality between an institution and migrants, captured in one setting”. Just a month ago, the film won main competition prize at one of the most prestigious documentary festivals worldwide – DOK Leipzig. The WATCH DOCS jury decided to honor the film „Tibet in Song” by Ngawang Choephel with a Special Mention. The film also got the WATCH DOCS Audience Award.
During ten days of the Festival, we have shown 80 titles divided into 9 programme sections. Almost 15.000 viewers have attended the screenings; thanks to the rich programme of side events the public could actively participate both in the Q & A sessions with the filmmakers and panel debates (there were six of them during the Festival – ranging from “Drug policy” to “Contemporary Russia” and “New Nationalism in Central Europe”).
