THE AWARD-WINNING FILMS
The films in the main competition competed for the Best Film Award and Best Director Award chosen by the Grand Jury.
This year the Best Film Award goes to the film Enemies of the People (UK, Cambodia / 2009 / 94 min.)
"The film compellingly reveals how totalitarian power functions. The courage, imagination and precision with which the filmmakers rose to dealing with such complex a theme as coming to terms with the past is both admirable and inspiring. Although this is a very personal theme for one of the filmmakers, the film's reflection of totalitarian practices is relevant throughout the world," said one of the jury member Linda Jablonská.
The Czech Minister of Culture Václav Riedlbauch will award the prize to the film's director Rob Lemkin.
The Best Director Award goes to the documentary Chemo (Chemia / Pawel Łoziński / Poland / 2009 / 58 min.)
"The director deals with a frightening subject and treats it with austere minimalism, yet he is still able to create a moving - and sometimes even uplifting - experience for the audience. This attests to his excellent filmmaking skills and a special sensitivity to psychological detail. The jury is delighted to name Pavel Łoziński best director for his endearing film 'Chemo'," said one member of the jury Anders Østergaard.
Pawel Łoziński responded to the news of winning the award for Best Director by saying:
"I am very honoured that I am being given the best director award by the One World International Documentary Human Rights Film Festival, a festival that has contributed so much to promotion of human dignity. I shot my movie "Chemo" with the idea that suffering, fear and hope are universal feelings that every person living in this world - one world - knows. I want to thank you very much for this award from the depth of my heart."
The Mayor or Prague Pavel Bém will hand out the award which will be accepted on behalf of Pawel Łoziński by Krystyna Krauze from the Polish Institute in Prague.
The Rudolf Vrba Award is given to the best film in the Right to Know category. The Jury that decides on this award this year is deliberately made up not of filmmakers but of charismatic, brave individuals working in the field of human rights.
„The question of what we are to expect from a human rights documentary is difficult to answer. The five members of our jury come from different parts of the world, work for different organizations, and deal with different human rights causes. We saw 15 films and had long, heated debates over each of them. We were looking for a film that would link a local cause to universal issues. A film that would appeal both to our emotions and to our intellect and experience. A film that would inspire people to act, but also encourage them to think carefully. A film that would send a clear, strong message, without simplifying complicated issues. A film that would give evidence and present different points of view. At some point we realised that it was unlikely we would ever find a film capable of satisfying all of us - but then, there it was," said one member of the jury Brigitte Dufour.
The Rudolf Vrba Award goes to the film The Sun Behind the Clouds (India / 2009 / 79 min.)
„This year the Rudolf Vrba Jury Award goes to "Sun behind the Clouds", a film by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam about the Tibetans' human rights struggle. It portrays courage, passion and wisdom, and it inspires, challenges, and asks questions. What do freedom, independence, and autonomy mean in today's world? What do we expect from those who have influence over people's thoughts and feelings? And finally, should we, when fighting for human rights, make decisions with our hearts or with our minds?
Today, the Tibetan human rights movement is an inseparable part of the world human rights movement. The conditions of human rights in Tibet can impact human rights around world. We hope that by awarding the prize to this film we will encourage more people to see it," said one of the jury member Tolekan Ismailov.
The award will be accepted by the film's two directors Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam and by the executive producer of the film Francesca von Habsburg.
The Rudolf Vrba Jury awards Special Mention to the film Tibet in Song (Ngawang Choephel / USA / 2009 / 82 min.)
„Our Jury also wishes to give a Special Mention to "Tibet in Songs", a movie made at high personal cost by the director, Ngawang Choephel, a passionate ethnologist conducting research on Tibetan musical traditions. While it addresses cultural rights, the movie simultaneously provides compelling testimony on the continued repression in Tibet. We believe that this movie is an inspiration to all of us engaged in promoting cultural, minority, and civil and political rights around the world. "Tibet in Songs" left us literally speechless," said one of the jury member Ko Maung.
The documentary The Sun Behind the Clouds will also receive the Václav Havel Special Award as a film that uniquely contributes to the defence of human rights, awarded by the Jury whose honorary chair is Václav Havel.
The Czech Radio Award for creative use of music and sound in a documentary film will be awarded to the Czech film directed by Tomáš Kudrna All That Glitters (CR / 2010 / 99 min.).
"Director Tomáš Kudrna made his documentary in the bizarre setting of a gold mine near Barskon, a small, remote town in Kyrgyzstan. He manages very successfully to portray the complexities of the transformation that these remote parts of the former Soviet Republic have undergone over the past twenty years. This multifaceted documentary reflects on the specific predicament of this region of Asia, the burdensome legacy of its past, and the not very optimistic prospects for its future. Sound forms an integral part of the film's testimony, enhancing the image, and articulating what cannot be expressed visually. Like the message of the film, the sound design is also multifaceted; sounds intermingle and interact with music, which itself is varied, drawing on ethnic and pop music, making ironic use of military songs, and even employing abstract electronic sounds. Sometimes the sound is used as counterpoint, at other times it is attuned to the atmosphere in the image, thus adding a poetic quality to the harsh reality portrayed in the film. The verdict was unanimous," said on behalf of the jury Jiří Hubička, Jury Chair.
The Student Jury Award for the best film in the One World collection of films for students will be awarded by the Student Jury to the director Marije Meerman for her film I Wanna Be Boss (Netherlands / 2008 / 58 min.)
"The Student Jury Award goes to I Wanna Be Boss, set in a high school in China.
The jury was impressed by the resolve and ambition of the Chinese students and their drive to follow their dreams of success. Another aspect of the film that intrigued the jury was that it inspired comparison and contrasting between the systems of education in China and the Czech Republic. The film also offers a comprehensive picture of an authoritarian upbringing full of coercion and orders. Perhaps it is the upbringing and education of young people that provides some clue to understanding the Chinese mentality. The film's authenticity enables viewers to relate easily to the protagonists and identify with them in their dramatic predicaments," said one of the jury member Daniel Přikryl.
The winner of the VŠEM Audience Award will be known tomorrow. The film with the most votes so far is the Czech documentary The Unwelcome by Tomáš Škrdlant.
Print-quality photographs from the winning films can be downloaded at: http://jedensvet.cz/2010/foto
Additional screenings of the winning films:
18.3. 22:00 Lucerna - Enemies of the People
18.3. 21:30 Atlas VS - All That Glitters
18.3. 17:30 Světozor VS - Winner of the VŠEM Audience Award
18.3. 19:30 Světozor VS - Enemies of the People
18.3. 21:45 Světozor VS - The Sun Behind the Clouds
18.3. 16:00 Světozor VS - Chemo
Attendance figures for the Prague leg of the festival have beaten last year's record. From the time the festival opened last Thursday up until Tuesday evening screenings of the festival's films in Prague had been viewed by more than 32 500 people. As of yesterday 58 screenings had been sold out. Alongside the official festival cinemas, this year One World films were also shown at five new venues in Prague: Cross Club, KC Beseda in Klánovice, Podsklepeno Club, at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, and an the University of Economics. ‘The exact attendance figures at these "parallel" festivals organised as part of this year's new "One World - Do It Yourself" by a team of twenty volunteers from previous years is not yet known. But we expect that visitors to these events will considerably add to the number of One World festival viewers in Prague. Given that attendance figures in the regions are currently good, we expect that the total number of viewers of the One World Festival in Prague and the regions could again exceed 100 000', says festival spokesperson Filip Šebek.
One World in Brussels
Organized by People in Need
Held under the auspices of President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, former President of the Czech Republic Václav Havel and Ambassador Milena Vicenová of the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union
Between April 12 - 19, 2010, One World International Documentary Film Festival and Watch Docs Film Festival, in collaboration with the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU; People in Need; the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts; the Human Rights and Democracy Network; and the Festival des Libertés, will be hosting the 4th edition of One World Brussels.
One World Brussels will offer a chance to see 18 the best documentary films from this year's One World in Prague, including The Arrivals which won Best Film in December at Watch Docs. One World Brussels balances top notch documentary filmmaking with the burning human rights topics and politic issues that cannot afford to be ignored in today's globalized world. This year there will be films dealing with the political and social unrest in Iran; the growing concern over impunity in current-day Russia; the challenges and chaos of China; the reality of life under Burma's brutal dictatorship; the complex issues around migration across the globe; the ongoing debate about how to improve development work and a range of other pressing topics. Every screening will be followed by either Q & A sessions with filmmakers or panel discussions with expert policy makers and members of the international NGO community.
The decision to develop One World Brussels over the last four years has been made in light of the fact that there is such a remarkable opportunity to not only screen some remarkable documentaries on human rights and important foreign policy issues, but that there are also so many individuals from the European Union institutions, the International non-governmental sector, and human rights groups that want to be able to see such films.
One World is extremely excited about the numerous Polish partners that have agreed to become involved this year, which includes not only the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, but also the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union, which will be co-sponsoring the closing event of the festival with their colleagues from the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic.
The films will be available in a variety of locations, including the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts; the Polak Room in the Residence Palace; the Yehudi Menuhin Space in the European Parliament and in the exhibition space within the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union. All screenings, with the exception of those at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, are free of charge. For more complete information please take a look at our website - www.oneworld.cz/2010/brussels - or to reserve tickets at any of the screenings in the programme at - www.czechrep.be/oneworld .
