The next edition of the festival will take place on October 1-6, 2026 at the Kinomuzeum MSN in Warsaw. We invite you to join us and help co-create our festival!
Volunteering is about much more than simply helping with the organisation of the festival. It’s an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of organising a cultural event, meet new people, work together, watch films, and spend a few days as part of a great team and in very good company. We invite all cis and trans women and non-binary people to join our festival crew!
If you would like to join us as a volunteer, please fill in the form below. The application form will be open until 10 September 2026, and we will respond to all applications by 15 September 2026.
Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee a place on the volunteer team. The decision to accept volunteers — including the approval of applications and signing of volunteer agreements — is made by the HER Docs Foundation.
If you have any questions, please contact us at: info@herdocs.pl
We announce
the program
of the short films Showcase
We are pleased to announce the results of the open call for short films for this year’s edition of HER Docs Film Festival. Thank you so much for all your submissions! We watched over 70 documentary, experimental, animated and video art films.
For the sixth time, we are selecting films that show that documentary cinema does not have to fit into a single form or tell stories in an obvious way. This is exactly what we love about them: they can afford to do more – to experiment with form, combine documentary with animation, video art and other techniques, search for their own language, and tell stories that are difficult to accommodate within the traditional frameworks of documentary cinema. We are particularly happy to showcase the work of female directors who are just starting out on their filmmaking journeys: students, debut filmmakers and creators taking their first steps in the industry.
We have selected 16 films. We warmly invite you to the screenings during HER Docs Film Festival, taking place 1–6 October, followed by Q&As with the filmmakers!
MIX, dir. Klaudia Szott
SELECTED FILMS
A CO BYŚ DZISIAJ ZROBIŁ INACZEJ? (WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY TODAY?), dir. Jaśmina Wójcik BEST REGARDS, dir. Katarzyna Romatowska CZY TY MNIE SŁYSZYSZ? (CAN YOU HEAR ME?), dir. Anastazja Naumenko DOBRE SERCE (A GOOD HEART), dir. Aleksandra Kubisa FOUR PERCENT, dir. Monika Masłoń GŁOSY KRYZYSU (VOICES OF CRISIS), dir. Katarzyna Małyszko HORYZONT (HORIZON), dir. Małgorzata Mazur KRÓTKIE MGNIENIA PIĘKNA (BRIEF GLIMPSES OF BEAUTY), dir. Katarzyna Karwańska MIX, dir. Klaudia Szott OBIETNICA SZYBKIEJ ŚMIERCI W DOLINIE KREWETEK (A PROMISE OF A QUICK DEATH IN SHRIMP VALLEY), dir. Zuzanna Orch OSTATNIA DZIKA RZEKA (THE LAST WILD RIVER), dir. Agnieszka Kokowska, Anastazja Dąbrowska OSTATNIE MIEJSCE NA ZIEMI (THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH), dir. Ewa Japola THE TONGUE THAT GRASPS, dir. Marta Hryniuk, Nick Thomas TWIN DAYS, dir. Sara Szymańska, Nadia Szymańska UKRYTE (HIDDEN), dir. Monika Kotecka WOLNO, SZYBKO, WOLNO (SLOW, FAST, SLOW), dir. Jagoda Czarnek
A Promise of a Quick Death in Shrimp Valley, dir. Zuzanna Orch
We love short-form cinema, especially works that experiment with form, tell unconventional stories at the intersection of art and non-fiction and explore diverse filmmaking techniques such as video art and animation. The HER Docs showcase is an annual short film program accompanied by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.
What films are we looking for?
Works created within the broad field of non-fiction, including documentary films, experimental films, animations and video works;
Films produced in Poland, Polish co-productions or works by Polish filmmakers produced abroad;
Running time of up to 30 minutes;
Films produced in 2025 or 2026.
We welcome submissions from women, non-binary, and gender-diverse filmmakers.
The submission deadline is June 30, 2026.
Detailed information about the regulations and the submission form can be found here:
HER Docs Film Festival coming back in October 2026!
The 2026 edition of the HER Docs Film Festival will take place on October 1–6, 2026. The first program announcements are coming soon, but in the meantime – save the dates in your calendars!
Each year, the HER Docs Festival presents films that stay with audiences long after the screening ends and spark conversations that continue well beyond the cinema. We invite directors, as well as other women filmmakers, to meet with audiences, and above all, we strive to create a safe and welcoming space for discussion and exchange of ideas. As always, the festival will feature a showcase of the latest Polish short films that push boundaries of documentary cinema. The special ANOTHER STORY section will highlight surprising and often overlooked works by women filmmakers whose contributions are rarely found in film history textbooks.
The festival will also host the annual HER Docs Forum, an industry event for professional women documentary filmmakers working across different fields of the non-fiction sector. More information coming soon!
We know (almost) the full program of HER Docs Festival!
The program of HER Docs Festival is now available almost in its entirety. A few cinematic surprises are still ahead, but you can already check out the descriptions of all feature films and details about the special section Punk, Glitch, Traces: Austrian Experimental Cinema.
This year, we made it a priority to welcome as many women filmmakers as possible, which is why after almost every screening there will be Q&As with directors from around the world. You’ll find the details next to each film description.
Let us remind you: it’s precisely the perspective of women behind the camera—their ways of seeing, storytelling, and engaging with the world—that sets the tone of the festival. Supporting women documentary filmmakers is an essential part of our mission!
Follow the Facebook event, where we’re regularly sharing updates and new details:
