Summer Cinema: In Hell with Ivo, dir. Kristina Nikolova
WATCH DOCS at the Komuna Warszawa
Duration: 80 minutes
Tickets: free admission
- wstęp wolny
Summer Cinema: In Hell with Ivo, dir. Kristina Nikolova 22.07.2026, 21:30
An energetic, musical and uncensored portrait of a queer performer, provocateur and singer who loves to cross boundaries.
A wild, rebellious portrait of a man who turned provocation into a weapon against prejudice. Bulgarian vocalist, performer, and artist Ivo Dimchev lives to shock. In performances that blur the line between stand-up and drag, he relentlessly challenges taboos, mocks political correctness, and dismantles stereotypes. Blending queer sensitivity with Balkan beats, he dives headfirst into questions of identity, faith, politics, and activism. The filmmakers follow him onstage and off – from underground clubs in Bulgaria to intimate apartment concerts during the pandemic. For Ivo, nothing is off-limits: he speaks candidly about living with HIV, about sex, and the traumas of his youth. His flair for excess is not just art, it’s a survival strategy in a world still steeped in prejudice.
In Hell with Ivo, dir. Kristina Nikolova, 79′ 2025 Bulgaria, USA
Next Summer Cinema screenings: 5.08, 19.08.
About the festival
WATCH DOCS is one of the largest human rights film events in the world presenting documentaries, in which commitment to individual rights is combined with film art.
Each year, the festival features over fifty world-class films. The festival in Warsaw, a travelling festival in over thirty Polish cities, and an online festival gather over 100,000 viewers combined. WATCH DOCS is the oldest documentary film festival in Warsaw – the first edition of the festival took place in 2001.
WATCH DOCS festival is where every year you can watch dozens of premiere screenings and participate in several meetings with world-renowned documentary filmmakers. It is here that new films by such filmmakers as Errol Morris, Raymond Depardon, Kim Longinotto, Avi Mograbi or Alex Gibney had their Polish premieres. Both legendary documentary filmmakers like Frederick Wiseman and younger generation directors including Sean McAllister, Jean-Gabriel Periot, Barak Heymann or Maria Ramos led their master classes at WATCH DOCS festival.
Co-financing
The event is co-financed by the City of Warsaw as part of the project Komuna Warszawa – Social Institution of Culture.
