Tonight, Saturday Nov 23, WATCH DOCS will host the world premiere of the documentary “Being Mikołaj".

A queer coming-of-age story centered on the need for parental acceptance. As Mikołaj steps into adulthood, he’s determined to mend his relationship with his father, who has yet to fully accept Mikołaj’s transition. Piotr views his son’s transgender identity as merely a “phase” and often deadnames him. In this intimate family narrative, the camera serves as a catalyst for understanding, bridging a gap in a relationship where discussions of emotions and gender identity have never come easily. Though Piotr has been raising Mikołaj alone for years, their path to mutual acceptance is riddled with challenges and setbacks.

After the screening, which begins at 6:15 pm at the Muranów Cinema, we invite you to the debate “Lawsuit for Acceptance” - parents, teachers, doctors, and politicians often shy away from discussing children’s gender identity, as if LGBTQ+ youth exist in a different realm. But what do these young people need from schools, society, and the state? In Poland, the process of legal gender reconciliation requires minors to sue their parents—a legal and emotional ordeal. How can we ensure that all young people enjoy full rights and aren’t relegated to second-class status?

Also at Muranów Cinema, at 6:00 pm, we invite you to a screening of “Eight Postcards from Utopia” a new documentary by audience favorite, Romanian director Radu Jude, which takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the Romanian transformation of the 1990s told through TV commercials of the era.

The screenings at KINOMUZEUM, a new cinema on the map of Warsaw, located in the building of the Museum of Modern Art, begin at 3pm with the film “Youth (Homecoming)”. It's a story about seasonal workers in a sewing factory producing clothes with a “Made in China” label. The camera shows the inhumane working and living conditions of the young people.

At Kinoteka at 18:00 we invite you to the film “Eddy's War”. Can a good photo affect the fate of war? The filmmakers, Eddy van Wessel (photojournalist) and Joost van der Valk (director, cinematographer), reach the epicenter of the conflict, risking their lives and breaking the rules. The film raises many difficult questions about the limits of involvement, the drastic nature of the image, and the possibility of neutrality in a conflict situation. The screening will be followed by a meeting with the director.

One of the last screenings tonight will be a screening of the Palestinian Oscar candidate “From Ground Zero” (8:30 pm at Kinoteka), which presents twenty-two short stories directly from the Gaza Strip. The film uncovers daily life in the conflict zone, showing the fears, challenges and determination of people striving to survive when control over their fate has been stripped away. 

The entire program is available here. See you at WATCH DOCS!