WATCH DOCS Belarus Human Rights Film Festival

WATCH DOCS Belarus is an international human rights documentary film festival that has been held regularly since 2015 in Minsk, as well as in regional cities of Belarus.

Our mission is to create a platform for discussing current topical issues between people with different opinions and viewpoints, a space for networking and collaboration between various social groups, activists, journalists, intellectuals and film directors.We aim to raise awareness on protection of human rights and freedoms, support civic engagement, as well as development and promotion of documentaries on human rights.

Our festival is a non-profit one, and admission to festival screenings and events is usually free. Our movie program comprises the main part that features internationally renowned documentaries and a competition for Belarusian documentaries on human rights, where audience vote for the movies they like best, and directors thereof are awarded a cash prize collected vie crowdfunding. On top of that, screenings are accompanied with educational activities, discussions and lectures. Since the founding of the festival, crowdfunding has been a mandatory and important component thereof, and the festival’s main driving force is volunteers.

WATCH DOCS Belarus cooperates with both national and international organizations to share experiences and promote human rights documentaries. Our chief partner is the WATCH DOCS festival in Poland, which provided a great deal of support and assistance in the formation of our festival. Thus, we are proud to call WATCH DOCS not only a partner, but a friend of ours. WATCH DOCS Belarus HRFF is organized by the Educational and Social Public Association "Zvyano".