We would like to invite you to a special event –  a masterclass with Kazuhiro Soda which will take place on Sunday, December 6 at 1:00 p.m.

Soda is the laureate of this year’s Marek Nowicki prize awarded to filmmakers for excellent achievement in showing human rights in film. The prize was awarded during the opening ceremony of the 20^th WATCH DOCS. Human Rights in Film IFF.

Kazuhiro Soda, one of the greatest and most original masters of the observational documentary, is undoubtedly one of them. As the festival director Maciej Nowicki writes: “Soda does not seek to create the illusion of life that appears to unfold in front of the viewer's eyes, the impression of eliminating his mediation between the film's protagonist and the viewer. The essence of his observation is not the distance between the filmmaker and protagonist, but the attention that the filmmaker devotes to the protagonist, full of focus and devoid of preconceptions. It is the readiness to discover, to accept what is yet to be observed. Therefore, among Soda's "Ten Commandments," the first three are 1. No research, 2. No meetings with subjects, and 3. No scripts. Number 4. is Roll the camera yourself, followed by 5. Shoot for as long as possible, 6. Cover small areas deeply, 7. Do not set up a theme or goal before editing, 8. No narration, super-imposed titles, or music, 9. Use long takes, and finally – 10. Pay for the production yourself.”

The program of the 20^th WATCH DOCS. Human Rights in Film IFF features a Kazhuhiro Soda retrospective. The “Kazuhiro Soda: A Sensitive Observer” section includes, among other, the released in 2007 "Campaign" which turned out to be one of the most important political documentaries of the 21st century and Soda’s latest film “Seishin 0” which was shown at this year’s Berlinale.