Documentary exposes China’s mass surveillance and detention of Uyghurs
Film exposing China’s mass surveillance and detention of Uyghurs anchors renewed international push to counter denial, disinformation, and global silence
GENEVA, Switzerland (MNTV) — A leading Uyghur advocacy organization is intensifying its international campaign as a documentary examining China’s system of mass surveillance and detention gains wider exposure across Europe and North America.
At the center of the effort is Eyes of the Machine, a 76-minute documentary supported by the World Uyghur Congress that documents how digital surveillance, forced labor and detention have been embedded into everyday governance in the Uyghur homeland, known to Uyghurs as East Turkistan.
Directed by Dutch filmmaker Daya Cahen, the film combines leaked Chinese police photographs, intercepted internal communications and open-source data with first-hand testimony from survivors.
Central to the narrative is Kalbinur Sidik, an ethnic Uzbek woman who recounts being compelled to work inside Chinese internment facilities, offering a rare personal account of a system largely hidden from public scrutiny.
Rights groups and international experts say the documentary challenges Beijing’s longstanding portrayal of the detention network as benign “vocational training centers,” instead revealing a highly coordinated architecture of surveillance and coercion.
United Nations experts and independent researchers have previously described China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities as crimes against humanity, allegations that Beijing strongly denies.
Completed in August 2025, the film premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November, drawing sustained public attention during extended screenings in the Dutch capital.
It is now scheduled to screen at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights from March 6 to March 15, 2026, with further festival appearances planned in Prague later in the year. An accompanying exhibition remains on display at Amsterdam’s Eye Filmmuseum through mid-March.
Advocates involved in the project say the film has taken on renewed urgency as Chinese authorities continue to reject international findings and expand efforts to discredit survivor testimony and independent investigations.
Alongside the film’s circulation, the World Uyghur Congress has expanded outreach across Europe and the United States, holding consultations with civil society groups and academic institutions.
At international forums in Europe, WUC representatives have also warned that state-led Islamophobia targeting Uyghurs risks becoming normalized unless governments move beyond statements of concern and adopt concrete policy responses.
For Uyghur advocates, the film is not only a record of past abuses but a tool to prevent the issue from fading from international view as geopolitical priorities shift.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
