WATCH DOCS has become a permanent landmark on the film map of Lublin, and since 2003 we have been able to watch the best films about human rights.

WATCH DOCS is one of the world's two largest human rights film events presenting documentaries in which commitment to individual rights is combined with the art of filmmaking. More than fifty world-class films are shown at the festival each year. A total of more than one hundred thousand viewers watch them annually at the international festival in Warsaw, at a touring festival in more than thirty Polish cities, and as part of an online festival.

WATCH DOCS is the oldest documentary film festival in Warsaw - the first festival was held in 2001. WATCH DOCS is a festival where every year you can watch dozens of premieres and participate in meetings with world-renowned documentary filmmakers. WATCH DOCS is a social movement. Each year more than a hundred volunteers are involved in organizing the international festival.

The WATCH DOCS Festival was established in 2001 as a program of a Polish NGO, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. The establishment of the Foundation was preceded by the seven-year activity of the Helsinki Committee in Poland, which had been active since 1982. Today, the Helsinki Foundation is one of Europe's most experienced human rights NGOs. It carries out educational, intervention and monitoring programs. Much of its work concerns human rights in the countries that emerged after the collapse of the USSR. The festival is co-organized by more than seventy partners from all over the country.
In Lublin, the festival is a free event and has already been held in several city institutions, cafes, libraries, universities and in the open air.