These include, for example, the film about the controversial preparations for the Olympics in Sochi (Putin's Games), about the division of Sudan, where again the Civil War is being kindled (The Longest Kiss), about the Eritrean refugees in Israel (Sound of Torture) who, in January, took to the streets against Israeli immigration policy, and on a strike of miners in South Africa, which continues unabated (Miners Shot Down).
The last documentary mentioned above will be the opening film of One World 2014. In Prague, it will be personally introduced, in the world premiere, by the prominent documentary filmmaker, Rehad Desai, and producer Anita Khanna. In 2012, they documented the strike of miners from the platinum mine Mirakana, which ended with bloodshed after brutal police intervention. "This dramatic film is a powerful experience for the audience; and in connection with the current wave of similar protests in SA, it acquires a new dimension. The filmmakers are trying today to offer it to the court as evidence in search for the perpetrators of the massacre," says Hana Kulhánková, director of the One World Festival.
Work is also the topic of other films, especially those in the main thematic category called "Work Makes Us Who We Are ..."Filmmakers view work in a broad social context and open a debate about why exactly work currently affects our lives so much. A documentary comedy Keep Up The Good Work directed by Constantine Faigle is about burnout as well as about alternative forms of employment. He will come to speak personally to Prague about work as a source of both our happiness and suffering. Lack of employment opportunities is addressed in the documentary Men with Balls by residents of a Hungarian village of Besence. Will a tennis court and a farm established thanks to the EU subsidies help them? Director Frédéric Brunnquell will show in his film The Age of Cheap the stories of former employees of Ryanair or Aldi, that prove corporations do not give discounts for free. Also he will visit the festival; as will the Polish director Lidia Duda. She is bringing with her the protagonist of her film Everything is Possible, Teresa Bancewicz, who is an eighty years old hitchhiker. She will try to convince the Prague audience that work may not be the main purpose in life. Authors of other films focus on the issues of unemployment and poverty in the global South and North including child labour as well as migration for livelihood.
The competition category Right to Know will often present documentaries that are even shocking with a strong human rights dimension. Among them is Zelim's Confession, about torture and arrest of innocent people in the North Caucasus in the name of fighting terrorism. The main protagonist, Zelim, and the director, Nataliya Mikhaylova, will be present at One World. The director, Roger Ross Williams, will bring the film God Loves Uganda about the connection between the enforcement of a discriminatory law against gays and lesbians and the lobbying of the American evangelical movements in the Ugandan Parliament.
In the Main Competition,12 films will be introduced that follow the current social issues such as illegal migration, xenophobia, organized crime and political extremism. The spectators will be able to watch the unique film called Judgment in Hungary. The crew of the director, Eszter Hajdú, was following for three years a lawsuit against four Hungarian far-right supporters who were accused of a series of racially motivated attacks on Roma villages in 2008 (last year, One World presented a film, Just the Wind, inspired by these events). The director with the producer Sándor Mester will introduce Prague screenings.
The Panorama category offers a cocktail of the most successful documentary films from international festivals. The film Narco Cultura is about the rising popularity of Mexican ballads glorifying drug dealers. The Crash Reel reveals why Kevin Pearce, once one of the best snowboarders of the world, will never again go to the Olympics.
The new category, Endangered Families, includes the film Web Junkie, about the Chinese rehab institute for teenagers addicted to computer games. It will be brought and presented by the director Shosh Shlam. The director Estephan Wagner will open a debate on dying in dignity with his documentary Last Dreams. The Special Need will show problems a thirty year old autistic individual has when looking for a partner.
In The Power of the Media category, the Estonian Theatre NO99 launches a fictitious political campaign in protest against populism in the film Ash & Money. The Lost Signal of Democracy will highlight the political pressure on the media not only in Greece.
In the Journeys to Freedom category, the festival presents films from countries where the organization People in Need works. For example, the film Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer takes place in Russia.
The So-called Civilization category includes, among other things, documentaries on lifestyle, such as Grasp the Nettle. The director, Dean Puckett, will personally present to the audience a film about life in a community - in an ecovillage in the middle of London.
The complete programme as well as photographs related to the films are presented on the www.oneworld.cz website. A list of all guests can be found in the attachment.
The festival will be held in Prague from 3rd to 12th March and then in 33 other cities in the Czech Republic.
The festival's infopoint will be again in the coffee bar of the Lucerna cinema. The other festival venues are: Světozor, Atlas, French Institute, Municipal Library, Ponrepo and Evald. The Press Centre and the Guest Service can be found at the People in Need's Centre - Langhans (Vodičkova 37). Advance ticket sales for the Prague part of the festival begins on the 24th of February. The price of a single ticket is CZK 90. Admission to senior screenings is half the price. Audience accreditation costs CZK 440.
What's interesting about the 16th One World
Panel discussions on engaged art and educational institutions
Nine panel discussions for the public will be held at the French Institute in Prague, always after the screening which begins at 7:30 p.m. One of the topics to be discussed will be why the international community has been undecided for already three years now whether to look for a solution to the bloody civil war in Syria. We will open a debate about the possibilities for dying in dignity, educational institutions, alternative housing, engaged art, EU subsidies and working conditions, on interconnection of media and politics. You can learn more about the discussions here: http://www.oneworld.cz/2014/debates
Rap concert of Cuban dissidents
A rappers' duo from Los Censurados band will play on Thursday, 6th March from 9 p.m. at Prague's Rock Café club. They will advocate for the release of political prisoners in Cuba, including the musician, El Crítico. He has been in prison since March 2013 without being accused of anything specific. The regime punishes the artist for criticizing the government and bans his public appearances. One World presents the film Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War of the glorious illegal Cuban band, Los Aldeanos.
One World in Schools
Festival reaches thousands of students in Prague and in the regions thanks to the One World in Schools programme. So far 13,434 students and 699 teachers from Praguehave registered for the morning screenings this year.More at www.jsns.cz/festival.
Documentary film >> the next level
The future of the documentary film genre is no longer just on the screen. It interconnects in the so-called "cross-media" projects with the Internet, computer games and other media. We can influence the storyline, meet the protagonists and become co-authors. The showcase of the best web documentaries covering human rights and social issues will be brought by the One World online special on the Czech TV's website (www.ceskatelevize.cz/jedensvet/eng). The competition jury member, a Canadian filmmaker and an expert on cross-media, Katerina Cizek, will speak about the new possibilities of interactive narrative on 6th March from 5 p.m. in the Světozor cinema.
East Doc Platform
From 3rd to 9th March, Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) is hosting, as part of the One World festival, the third year of the largest documentary industry event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe: East Doc Platorm.As part of the Doc Tnk event, there will be a presentation of seven seleced cross-media projects (7th March from 6:30 p.m. at the Instituto Cervantes). More at www.DOKweb.net.
One World 2014 Mobile Application
This year, there will also be the One World 2014 mobile application that will help spectators with a selection of films from the rich programme. After answering a few introductory questions, it will recommend films to each spectator according to their tastes. The application has been produced by the MistyLab studio and, this year, it is prepared for mobile phones running on the Android, iOS and Windows systems.
One World in Numbers
- This year's programme will present 106 documentaries in 11 thematic categories
- Viewers will visit 54 countries of the world through the screened films
- One World will show 6 films in the world première 4 of them will be Czech (Beginnings, Olga, Raduga (The Celebration of the Rainbow), Pirating Pirates) and two from abroad (Miners Shot Down; Notes from the Dark. Aleppo)
- 12 films will be presented by the festival within the Main Competition, 12 others will compete in the Right to Know category
- The festival films will be screened in 7 Prague cinemas and in the total of 10 auditoriums
- One World 2014 will be held in Prague (3rd to 12th March), Brussels (24th March to 2nd April) and other 33 cities of the Czech Republic (15th March -13th April)
- 117,334 people from all over the Czech Republic visited One World 2013 (of them 52,739 in Prague and 64,595 in the regions)
One World 2014 has been supported by:
General Partner: AVAST foundation
Main partner: Bageterie Boulevard
Partner of the Main Thematic Category: Jobs.cz
Co-organizer: Ministry of Culture of the CR
Support: The Capital City of Prague, The State Cinematography Fund, EU MEDIA Programme
Main Media Partner: Czech Television
