The Human Rights Watch Film Festival has announced the lineup for its first full digital edition. Of 11 feature docs set to screen, eight are directed by women, amounting to 73 percent of the program.

Set to take place June 11-20, the fest will kick off with Erika Cohn’s “Belly of the Beast,” a look into how women inside the California penal system work with women on the outside to uncover systematic forced sterilization of countless prisoners.

Other titles set to screen include Ursula Liang’s “Down a Dark Stairwell” and Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy, and Maeve O’Boyle’s “The 8th.” The former investigates the aftermath of a Chinese-American police officer killing an unarmed black man, and the latter follows Ireland’s pro-choice movement as they work to overturn some of the world’s most restrictive laws on abortion.

The fest has gone digital this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Next year’s edition will return to Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center.

“At a time when the world is experiencing a profound shared adversity, it is particularly heartening to witness the brave individuals and strong communities in the 11 films in this year’s program,” said fest director John Biaggi. “They overcome adversity in so many remarkable and moving ways to show us all how struggle can create positive and powerful change for humanity.”

The film fest will include online discussions with filmmakers, film subjects, and Human Rights Watch researchers. Ticket information can be found on the fest’s website.

Check out all of the women-directed titles screening below, with synopses courtesy of the fest.

The 8th, Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy, Maeve O’Boyle, USA/Ireland

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Friday, June 19, 7pm (EDT)

Capturing a crucial moment for women’s rights, The 8th tells the incredible story of how the Republic of Ireland overturned one of the world’s most restrictive laws on abortion. Led by the fiercely passionate Ailbhe Smyth, Ireland’s pro-choice movement must radically shift tactics to carry a traditionally conservative electorate over the line. Their efforts are particularly complex in the context of Ireland’s strong religious roots and historical mistreatment of women and children. Essential viewing in an era of global rollbacks on women’s bodily autonomy rights, this extraordinary film delivers a lesson in the power of grassroots activism and amplifies the voices of women across ages and backgrounds who refuse to stand down.

“It’s actually about more than what you’re voting on – while we’re voting on reproductive health care, it’s also about the value we’re giving women in Irish society, saying we do value them and we do trust them.” – Andrea Horan, The 8th

Belly of the Beast (Opening Night), Erika Cohn, USA

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Thursday, June 11, 8pm (EDT)

When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal involuntary sterilizations in California’s women’s prison system, they take to the courtroom to wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. With a growing team of investigators inside prison working with colleagues on the outside, they uncover a series of statewide crimes – from dangerously inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations – primarily targeting women of color. But no one believes them. This shocking legal battle captured over seven years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated women, demanding our attention for a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.

“I have the power to change lives with the awareness of what happened to me.” – Kelli Dillon, Belly of the Beast

Coded Bias, Shalini Kantayya, USA/UK/China/South Africa

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Friday, June 12, 8pm (EDT)

When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that most facial-recognition software misidentifies women and darker-skinned faces, as a woman of color working in a field dominated by white males, she is compelled to investigate further. What she discovers drives her to push the US government to create legislation to counter the far-reaching dangers of bias in a technology that is steadily encroaching on our lives. Centering the voices of women leading the charge to ensure our civil rights are protected, Coded Bias asks two key questions: What is the impact of artificial intelligence’s increasing role in governing our liberties? And what are the consequences for people stuck in the crosshairs due to their race, color, and gender?

“Because of the power of these tools, left unregulated there is no recourse for abuse … we need laws.” – Joy Buolamwini, Coded Bias

Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival, 2020

Down a Dark Stairwell, Ursula Liang, USA

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Wednesday, June 17, 8pm (EDT)

When a Chinese-American police officer kills an innocent, unarmed black man in an unlit stairwell of a New York City housing project on November 20, 2014, communities across the city erupt with demands for legal accountability. When he becomes the first New York Police Department officer convicted of an on-duty shooting in over a decade, the fight for justice becomes much more complicated. One of the largest Asian-American protests in history challenges an uneven legal system, while the African-American community is forced to defend its rights again after a series of police killings. Cries for justice amid systemic inequities find disparate notions of fairness called into question.

“Down a Dark Stairwell tells a crucial American story of how divisions among racial minorities ultimately serve white supremacy.” – John Raphling, Senior Researcher, US Criminal Justice, Human Rights Watch

From Here, Christina Antonakos-Wallace, USA

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Sunday, June 14, 8pm (EDT)

From Here is a hopeful story of Tania, Sonny, Miman, and Akim – artists and activists based in Berlin and New York whose lives and futures hang in the balance of immigration and integration debates. As the US and Germany grapple with racism, nationalism, and a fight against diversity, our protagonists move from their 20s into their 30s and face major turning points in their lives: fighting for citizenship; starting families; and finding room for creative expression. Spanning a decade in two of the world’s largest centers of immigration, this sensitive and nuanced documentary captures their struggle to define what it means to “belong” in societies that are increasingly hostile to their existence.

“In the face of nationalism, we need narratives that connect us to our interdependence, challenge our assumptions and open our imagination. The stories in From Here invite viewers to engage with – rather than retreat from – our global reality.” – Christina Antonakos-Wallace, director, From Here

Maxima, Claudia Sparrow, USA

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Tuesday, June 16, 8pm (EDT)

Maxima tells the incredible story of 2016 environmental Goldman Prize winner Máxima Acuña and her family, who own a small, remote plot in the Peruvian Highlands. The Acuñas rely solely on the environment for their livelihood, but their land sits directly in the path of a multi-billion-dollar project run by one of the world’s largest gold-mining corporations. Faced with intimidation, violence, and criminal prosecution, we follow Máxima’s tireless fight for justice, taking her from the Peruvian Supreme Court to the doors of the World Bank in Washington, DC. Standing ever mighty, Máxima sings of her love of the land in the face of widespread oppression of indigenous people and relentless attempts to destroy environmental resources that the world relies on.

“Our dignity has no price.” – Máxima Acuña, Maxima

Winner Audience Award for a Feature Film, Hot Docs 2019

Radio Silence, Juliana Fanjul, Switzerland/Mexico

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Saturday, June 14, 4pm (EDT)

To millions of people in Mexico, the incorruptible journalist and news anchor Carmen Aristegui is regarded as the trusted alternative voice to official government spin, fighting daily against deliberate disinformation spread through news sources, government corruption, and the related drugs trade. When she is fired by a radio station in 2015 after uncovering a scandal involving then-President Enrique Peña Nieto, Carmen – with her dedicated journalist colleagues – decides to build a separate news platform. Facing threats of violence in the wake of a prominent journalist’s vicious murder, they must overcome fear for their personal well-being to continue in a shared fight for democracy and justice.

“Fear must not defeat us. We must not leave room for silence and allow this situation to terrorize journalists.” – Carmen Aristegui, Radio Silence

Reunited, Mira Jargil, Denmark/Sweden

Live online Q&A with filmmaker and guests on Saturday, June 20, 3:30pm (EDT)

This is a story of love across borders, and the compromises a family must make when it is torn apart by circumstances beyond its control. When Rana and Muhkles are forced to flee the war in Syria in a desperate search for stable and secure futures for their family, they are separated from their children. Rana is in Denmark, Mukhles is in Canada and their young sons Jad and Nidal, ages 11 and 17, are stuck alone in Turkey. Through small everyday moments captured on video calls and home movies, director Mia Jargil paints an intimate and loving portrait of a family in limbo, navigating frustrating twists and turns at the hands of Kafkaesque bureaucracies, combatting physical distance to retain familial bonds and connection.

“Reunited … shed(s) light on a family’s destiny in order to provide the debate with a human perspective and mobilize a common guard against intolerance.” – Mia Jargil, Reunited