Exposing the Dark Truth of Digital Totalitarianism: Documentary 'Eyes of the Machine' Arrives in Prague as One World Film Festival Opens

PRAGUE, March 11, 2026 — Following its highly acclaimed premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the investigative documentary Eyes of the Machine, directed by Dutch filmmaker Daya Cahen, is set to screen at the One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, which officially opens today. Kalbinur Sidik, the film's central figure and a witness to the Uyghur genocide, has travelled to Prague to attend the event in person.

Core Record: A Chronicle of Survival Under the Surveillance State

Completed in August 2025, the 76-minute documentary exposes how security cameras track individuals' every move, how loved ones vanish without a trace, and how families are strictly monitored by assigned officials. Sidik's powerful personal testimony stands in stark contrast to state media propaganda and on-the-ground footage from inside and outside the internment camps.

Through almost paranoid cinematic details, the film portrays an omnipresent sense of surveillance. The documentary charges that this system, rooted in digital governance and operating under the guise of "combating extremism," is fundamentally a tool for the economic exploitation and political repression of the Uyghur people.

On-Site Testimony: From Camp Survivor to the Prague Podium

As the key interviewee of the film, Kalbinur Sidik provides rare, first-hand evidence of a system that has long evaded international scrutiny. During her visit to the Czech Republic, Sidik will formally accept a human rights award in her capacity as an eyewitness.

The award recognises her extraordinary courage in continuing to expose the truth to the international community and defending human rights, despite facing immense personal risk.

Public Resonance: From Dutch Curation to a Central European Perspective

The impact of Eyes of the Machine is expanding from Western to Central Europe. In Amsterdam, the Eye Filmmuseum hosted a concurrent special exhibition that materialised the reality of digital oppression depicted in the film into an immersive visual archive.

As the film begins its screening at the festival today, Sidik's on-site participation will transform this cinematic testimony into tangible human rights action. In Central Europe — a region with a profound historical tradition of human rights — the screening of this film serves not only as a critique of technological abuse but also as a powerful mobilisation for the global human rights defence front.

"This is not just a film about the Uyghur people. It is a warning to the world about what unchecked surveillance technology can do to any society." — Daya Cahen, Director

About the Film

Eyes of the Machine
Dir. Daya Cahen | Netherlands | 2025 | 76 min
World Premiere: IDFA Amsterdam 2025
One World Festival: Prague, March 11, 2026

Eyes of the Machine is an urgent work of documentary journalism that exposes the architecture of digital totalitarianism deployed against the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. Through survivor testimony, intercept footage, and meticulous investigative reporting, director Daya Cahen has constructed one of the most sobering accounts of state surveillance ever committed to film.

About One World Film Festival

The One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival is one of the world's largest human rights documentary film festivals. Founded in Prague in 1999, it screens documentary films focused on human rights themes and attracts audiences across Central and Eastern Europe.