Shocking footage from the journey across the Mediterranean Sea undertaken by the protagonists of The Crossing or the unique record of the transformation of one street in Aleppo into a mass of ruins (Houses Without Doors), these and other documentary films present a detailed picture of the migration crisis. The One World Festival, whose main theme this year is Looking for Home, shows the lives of refugees in a Swedish detention centre (Detained) and those waiting endlessly for asylum in Germany (Café Waldluft). The documentary Syrian Love Story, the story of two dissidents in Syria, whose relationship has fallen apart, just like their dream of a better life in France, illustrates the delusions of new arrivals in Europe. Meanwhile Amal shows how complicated it is to fit in, to learn a new language and find work in a place that refugees did not choose for themselves.
The heroes of the opening film of this year's festival are also trying to find the courage to start building a new home. The documentary No Man is an Island is presented by the festival in international premiere and was included with 11 other films in the Main Competition. Belgian director Tim De Keersmaecker, who will come to Prague in person, filmed migrants in Tunisia and Ghana, to whom two Italian families on the island of Lampedusa metaphorically threw a lifebelt. "Even though the protagonists have a place to live, they do not feel happy and free," explains Hana Kulhánková, the director of the One World Festival. "They are still dependent on someone. The film is a metaphor that expresses what refugees in various corners of the world are experiencing. The documentaries in the Looking for Home category reflect European society, where opinion about the recent inflow of migrants is polarised. In the debate about migration our real values like openness and solidarity are lost."
The festival also touches on the frequently discussed topic of the radicalisation of European Muslims. The documentary My Jihadtakes place in a Belgian quarter from which many Muslim youths have left to fight in Syria. The local imam and the community around him are trying to prevent them from being seduced by the ideology of the so-called Islamic State.
Two years after the events on the Maidan, the Restless Ukraineprogramme category was created in cooperation with the Goethe-Institute. Here too One World examines contemporary events in Europe in a complex way. The film Back Homeabout the situation in Crimea shows that what is for one person a return to roots is for another a reason to leave. Oleg's Choiceintroduces audiences to young Russians who were enlisted by propaganda and a desire for adventure. From the other side of the Ukrainian conflict is a film about Ukrainian patriots How We Became Military Volunteers. The consequences of the war are then seen in the film Cargo 200 about how dead bodies of soldiers secretly travel to Russia from eastern Ukraine, even though Putin's regime denies that it has a military presence there. The extent to which ordinary people do not want to go to war is shown in the tragicomic film Ukrainian Sheriffs.
The second competition category is Right to Know,which calls attention to human rights abuses around the world. For example, One World presents the film The Érpatak Model, which shows the shocking story of how the mayor of a Hungarian village applies his ultra-nationalist sentiments in practice. The audience thus watches the downfall of liberal democracy in the centre of Europe. Hooligan Sparrowis the nickname of well-known Chinese women's rights activist Ye Haiyan from the circle of artists around Ai Weiwei. The film of the same name, whose young director Nanfu Wang will come to One World, shows how the Chinese regime uses repressive tactics against anyone who threatens the status quo.
The festival has created a new category calledAmong the Species about the relationship between humans and subject who are not people. The film Alice Cares opens a debate about whether seniors who live alone will in the future be taken care of by social robots. The film The Visit reconstructs events which have not happened yet – the first encounter of humanity with extra-terrestrials. The film will be presented in distribution premiere in cooperation with the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival. The title of the other new category Who is Normal Here? is inspired by the film Natural Disorder. Its hero, a young man with cerebral palsy, writes a play whose main theme is whether he actually has the right to live. The director of the film The Way We Talk, who from a young age has suffered from stuttering, also ponders his place in society.
The category Journeys to Freedom shows the situations in countries where People in Need works. The documentary The Trials of Spring takes the audience into post-revolutionary Egypt in the throes of a new repression. The filmmaker will discuss the making of the film and the use of various media platforms to promote it at one of the festival masterclasses. Eric Bergkraut, a well-known director and jury member at One World 2016, filmed Citizen Khodorkovsky about the controversial Russian oligarch who opposes Putin's regime.
Films included in the So-called Civilisation category will this year be combined with the new Audience Centre in the Lucerna Gallery. It will offer space (in addition to exhibitions, radio documentaries and human rights tattoo) for the presentation of projects and workshops about sustainable fashion, which is the subject of the film Out of Fashion. The documentary 10 Billion - What's On Your Plate?is about food and will be connected with a shared meal in the Audience Centre during which food waste and urban farming will be discussed. As the festival is increasingly focusing on films that accompany a campaign, it will also present the documentary Bikes vs Cars. The director of the film, Fredrik Gertten, has pledged to participate in a bike ride from Dejvice to the Kino 35 in the French Institute.
Traditionally One World includes the category The Power of the Media, which includes films like Thank You For Playing about how the popular computer game That Dragon, Cancer was created. In it the author reflects on his young son's battle with brain cancer. Another film is Frame by Frame about award-winning Afghan photographers.
Films that have already won awards at other festivals fall into the Panorama category. The thrilling drama Cartel Land which goes behind the scenes of battles with the Mexican drug cartels was even nominated for an Oscar. Sonita won the award for best documentary and the audience award at the Sundance Festival 2016. It presents the story of an emancipated young Afghan woman who defies her family's attempts at arrange a marriage for her and pursues her dream of becoming a rapper.
One World also features dozens of Czech and Slovak films. Czech Perspectives presents the world premiere of the film HeartCoreabout sexuality and parenthood of people with mental disabilities.
Interesting features of the 18th annual festival
Mobile app
You can find the complete festival programme, an overview of events and newly added screenings in the One World 2016 mobile app, in which you can set up your own programme. The application designed byAckeeis used by all 33 festival cities and is available in English, too. Download it at the App Store and Google Play.
Meetings with filmmakers and protagonists
Meetings with documentary filmmakers, debates about film methods and behind the scenes stories are just some of the things that daily visitors to the masterclasses in Kino 35 can look forward to. Slovak director Zuzana Piussi, whose film Difficult Choice explores the reality of Slovak presidential elections, will talk about investigative documentaries. One World presents it in international premiere. In cooperation with the European Women's Audiovisual Network a discussion will be held on whether women have the same opportunities as men in the film industry, which in the Czech context is an as yet unexplored topic. And there will also be analytical panel debates (for example, about LGBT families or the future of Ukraine), which this year will take place in the large auditorium of the Municipal Library. Audiences can look forward to post-film debates after almost every screening. And every day at 9:00 p.m. it will be possible to meet some of the foreign guests in the bar in the Audience Centre.
One World interactively
Some filmmakers aren't satisfied simply with screening their films in a cinema and have therefore created interactive projects for computers or virtual reality headsets in which the viewer can actively participate. Both can be "played" in four interactive zones in the Audience Centre and cinemas (Světozor, Municipal Library, Kino 35). One example is the project Do Not Track, a story composed of information obtained from IP addresses or users' social networks. In the virtual reality project Witness 360° 7/7, the audience will be able to experience the 2005 terrorist attack on the London metro almost first-hand. Both projects will be presented in a special masterclass in Kino 35.
Social Impact Documentaries
One World is focusing more and more on films with social outreach that want to change the world. With these films audiences have the opportunity to get involved in the campaign. The success of the films consists in changing public opinion, behaviour or laws. These films will be specially marked in the catalogue. One World this year presents 18 of them. An example is the documentary Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. The goal of the film is to limit meat consumption, which according to the film is one of the main causes of climate change.
Eastern combo concert
On 15 March, Azeri rapper Jamal Ali, who had to flee from the regime to Berlin and Ukrainian quartet NastyaZnykaye, which was created at the peak of the Maidan and found musical inspiration in Norah Jones and Amy Winehouse, will meet on stage in the Rock Café. Before the concert (at 7:30 p.m. in the theatre auditorium), leading stand-up comedianswill host an improper evening called HateFree Stage on the motif of the Czech national anthem.
iShorts: Short films about looking for home
A series of student films presents contemporary documentary short works from prominent Central European film schools. Home or places nearby are one of the main topics for most school projects. The audience will vote for the best of them.
We are greener
Vegetarian food, less gasoline and more recyclable waste. One World this year will be even greener. Guests in Prague will ride in electric vehicles from Nissan or use public transport.
Festival screenings for schools
The festival traditionally screens films in the morning for audiences from elementary and high schools from the whole country. For children ages 8 to 13 we have prepared a series of short films and for older students we have selected films from the main One World programme. On the first day after registration opened more than 10,000 people applied. Right now there are nearly 15,000. There will also be screenings for parents and their children and on the weekend the screenings will be followed by creative workshops. As part of the festival, training sessions for teachers on the topic of migration will also take place. The One World in Schools programme presents documentary films year-round.
East Doc Platform(March 7 – 13)
During One World the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) is organising the fifth annual East Doc Platform (EDP), the largest documentary event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. More than 400 guests from the ranks of foreign and Czech directors, producers, distributors, television executives, funds, institutions, festivals, the media and the general public will come to the Cervantes Institute and Komedie Theatre in Prague. The EDP this year will also include the CineDoc conference focusing on innovative forms of distribution, presentation of Czech documentaries and a series of lectures by renowned filmmakers. Thanks to the support of the IDF, some 20 films from this year's One World programme were created, among others. Most EDP events are open to the public. More at www.DOKweb.net.
One World Festival in numbers
- 34 cities (Prague 7 – 16 March, followed by the regions and Brussels). New cities are Karlovy Vary and Zlín.
- 26 film premieres (4 world, 18 international, 2 distribution and 2 European), of which 3 are Czech or Slovak productions
- 9 festival venues in Prague (Lucerna, Světozor, Atlas, Kino 35, Municipal Library, Ponrepo, Evald and newly Kino Béla and the Audience Centre in the Lucerna Gallery)
- 123 documentaries in 12 thematic categories
- 4 films about seizures of land (Across, Land Grabbing)
- 6 documentaries with LGBT themes (Call Me Marianna, Gayby Baby)
- 6 films set in China (Behemoth, The Chinese Mayor)
- 11 interactive or web documentaries
- More than 100 foreign guests will attend the festival in Prague
- 122,282 people from around the Czech Republic attended One World 2015
Practical information
Advance ticket sales in Prague begin on 29 February. Tickets prices are CZK 70 for films starting at 5:00 p.m. inclusive, then CZK 90. Senior tickets cost CZK 45. The Světozor Cinema will again have a supervised play corner for kids.
The press centre, where accreditation will be issued during the festival, is located in the People in Need Centre – Langhans (Vodičkova 37, Prague 1). Opening hours will be from 10:00 a.m. do 8:00 p.m during the festival.
The complete programme and visuals for download are on our website www.oneworld.cz.
