December 10 is the International Human Rights Day. On this day we invite you to the Helsinki debate on the independence of courts in Poland inspired by the film "A Thousand Robes." We will also meet with the winner of the Marek Nowicki Prize awarded by the Board the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights - Kazuhiro Soda. You can watch all discussions and talks on WATCH DOCS Facebook profile.

5:00 p.m.A talk with the creators of the film "A Worm in the Heart"

About the film: A gay couple from San Francisco decide to see for themselves what the situation is like for LGBT people in Russia. They start in St. Petersburg and then travel farther east through Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Along the way, they collect the stories of gay activists who, despite the real danger, are trying to take action to defend their communities. 

6:00 p.m. A Thousand Robes - film premiere, Helsinki debate "Citizen judge. In a state of lawlessness"

"A Thousand Robes" (dir. Kacper Lisowski) 

About the film: In Warsaw on January 11, 2020, judges, prosecutors and lawyers from 26 European countries demonstrated their solidarity with Polish judges fighting to maintain what remains of judicial independence. In the film we observe as they march in togas, shoulder to shoulder with Polish colleagues, surrounded by thousands of applauding Varsovians.

After the premiere we invite you to a Helsinki debate on the struggle for judicial independence in Poland and the experiences of judges opposing the dismantling of the rule of law

Participants:

• Dorota Zabłudowska - judge of the District Court Gdańsk-Południe, spokesperson of the Gdańsk branch of the Polish Judges Association "Iustitia," member of the board of the Polish Judges Association "Iustitia"
• Waldemar Żurek - judge of the District Court in Cracow, member of the main board of the Association of Judges "Themis," member of the National Council of the Judiciary for two terms (2010-2018)
• Krystian Markiewicz - judge of the District Court in Katowice, president of Polish Judges Association "Iustitia," associate professor at the University of Silesia
• Małgorzata Szuleka - lawyer at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
• Iwona Harris - producer and production manager, co-creator of the film "A Thousand Robes"
• Kacper Lisowski - director, screenwriter and cinematographer, director of the film "A Thousand Robes"

8:00 p.m. A talk with Kazuhiro Soda, laureate of the Marek Nowicki prize

Kazuhiro Soda, is one of the greatest and most original masters of the observational documentary. 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.