The most important human rights films produced over the last two years: ten documentaries that combine social sensitivity and cinematic art. Uncompromising movies that ask the most important questions. 

The festival's inaugural edition of the New Polish Film Competition. Seven outstanding movies, none of which have previously screened in Warsaw, including two world premieres. The films feature politics and history as well as personal, intimate stories and people that reflect our own humanity. 

Films reflecting our attitudes toward nature. Topics related to the place of humans in the ecosystem, the depletion of natural resources or rising sea levels are becoming urgent at a time when global warming is gaining momentum. 

Matters roiling the world: conflicts, new technologies, propaganda. A kaleidoscope of characters, film techniques and themes. Nine brilliant productions, including discoveries and hits of world festivals. 

Four selected films from the rich catalogue of this year's winner of the Marek Nowicki Lifetime Achievement Award. Throbbing with the rhythm of Philippine streets, documentaries with strong female characters unabashedly strike at a corrupt political system. 

 
The project is supported by the U.S. Embassy in Poland.

In a series devoted to the masterpieces of European documentary cinema, this year features two productions by the most celebrated Romanian non-fiction director, Radu Jude; a groundbreaking (filmed in space!) work by the master of found footage, Andrei Ujica; and a set of short films from the Sahia studio that reflect the country’s totalitarian dictatorship. 

The program is made possible by the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute – Warsaw. Organized as part of the Romania-Poland Cultural Season 2024-2025. In cooperation with Adina Bradeanu - curator of the SAHIA VINTAGE program of the ONE WORLD ROMANIA Association, with support from DACIN SARA.

This set of short documentaries impresses with its cornucopia of topics and techniques—from a multifaceted provocation stigmatizing unethical corporate practices to a reconstruction of a top-secret operation involving the seduction of radical activists by police agents. 

Four documentaries with queer in the lead role. Among them: the world premiere of a film devoted to the emotional and legal pitfalls of gender affirmation in Poland, a genre-bending portrait of queer Warsaw that has become the manifesto of a generation, and an energetic documentary about the feminist electro-punk icon. 

Five American documentaries. The selection includes a new film by Errol Morris, dedicated to the humanitarian crisis on the Mexican border, a suspense film by Steven Maing about outsiders who stood up to the richest man in the world, and a fabulously colorful documentary devoted to the mysterious world of moths. 

 
The project is supported by the U.S. Embassy in Poland.

Films that are looking for new ways to talk about today's Ukraine. Selections include an experimental and unexpected documentary about the war, but also a subversive comedy set in Kiev housing blocks or a movie devoted to Russian film propaganda.

November 24 - December 1

TR Warszawa

This year, for the first time, the WATCH DOCS film programme will be accompanied by a VR Expanded Worlds section. A selection of five socially engaged experiences, acclaimed at major European festivals, will be presented. In each of these works, the possibility of freely exploring reality allows the protagonists' perspective to be taken with openness and empathy. The works presented prove that new technologies are no longer just a gadgetry accessory for the film industry, but an invitation to reflect in depth on the problems of the contemporary world.

DOC LAB POLAND is the largest and most multifaceted program in Poland, focusing on the support of original, creative documentary cinema. Doc Lab is organized by the Władysław Ślesicki Film Foundation, which supports documentary filmmakers, produces films, organizes pitching sessions and a co-production market. We celebrate the program's 10th anniversary with a screening of its flagship production. 

The most interesting films from previous WATCH DOCS festival editions. Formally impressive experimental films and international hits. Films that won't leave you indifferent. Thanks to cooperation with the Player platform, these can now be viewed anywhere in Poland, free of charge.