Prague, March 12, 2013 – Four juries of the One World festival have decided to award seven films this year. The winners will be announced at the closing ceremony in Lucerna Cinema in Prague on Wednesday March 13, 2013.
Audience numbers have exceeded the expectations and increased by 25 % in comparison to last year. Number of tickets sold for the afternoon and evening screenings during the first eight days of the festival have risen to 30,744. Ticket sales were driven mainly by the weekend attendance with 3000 more audience members in comparison to 2012. „We are happy that our audiences were not driven off by the spectacle of changing the presidents nor the parallel release of the Babovřesky blockbuster movie. This confirms that quality documentary films are a full-fledged competition to commercial movies,” says Hana Kulhánková, the festival director.
School screenings in Prague have been visited by 8697 pupils, students and teachers.
Some eight sell out movies has attracted the most of the audience attention: Rent a family, The Crooks, The Fortress, Speed – In Search of the Lost Time, Camp 14, High Tech, Low Life, Ai Wei-Wei: Never Sorry, Page One – Inside The New York Times all sold out three screenings or more. This year´s technological upgrade, a smart phone app that helps users to ease their navigation through the festival programme was downloaded 1785 times.
One World was visited by 132 international and Czech filmmakers, producers and film festival representatives. The festival has welcomed 173 accredited journalists.
Grand Jury
The Grand jury has awarded The Best Film Award, The Best Director Award and A Special Mention. It has been selecting from 14 documents in the Main Category.
The Best Film Award goes to The Act of Killing directed by Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark / 2012 / 115 min.)
„The Grand jury appreciates the unprecedented approach to deal with the topic. The director travels to the mind of his characters whose personalities are being transformed right in front of the audience as if they followed a real time psychotherapy. We appraise the strong visual and formal qualities of the movie where the director originally managed to compose the approaches so diverse as a slapstick comedy, American gangster films and document,“ explains a member of the jury, Isabel Arrate Fernandez form IDFA Bertha Fund.
The Best Director Award goes to the film Entangled directed by Lidia Duda (Poland / 2012 / 51 min.).
„The Best Director Award was awarded for a subtle treatment of the topic of pedophilia observed from the both sides of the problem. The director has managed to give a strong message without even showing the faces of her characters. We would also like to credit the soundtrack that supports the visual of the movie and helps the audience to better cope with the harsh topic,“ says the jury member, a Scottish filmmaker Sean McAllister.
A Special Mention goes to the film A World Not Ours by Mahdi Fleifel (Lebanon, Great Britain, Denmark/ 2012 / 93 min.)
„Mahdi Fleifel took the role of the family chronicle keeper after his father and came back to the place of his childhood – the Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. Mahdi´s film shows the inhabitants with a slight dose of humor while not covering their difficult situation. His work with the original and file footage gives the audience a chance to experience a whole range of emotions,“ says Martina Šantavá from the Czech Television.
Members of the Grand Jury were: Isabel Arrate Fernandez (IDFA Bertha Fund director), Sawsan Darwaza (a founder of Karama Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Jordan), Sean McAllister (a Scottish director who has brought his documentary A Reluctant Revolutionary to Prague) and Martina Šantavá (a creative producer at the Czech Television).
Václav Havel Jury
Václav Havel Jury selected a documentary that has made an exceptional contribution to the defense of human rights. It also awarded A Special Mention. The jury was selecting from 12 documentaries in the Right to Know Category.
The Award for a documentary that made an exceptional contribution to the defense of human rights goes to Bahrain, the Forbidden Country directed by Stéphanie Lamorre (France / 2012 / 52 min.)
„The statement by one of the protesters that “without freedom there is no point in living” seemed to sum up the whole film and the raison d’etre of their struggle. We were particularly impressed by the fact that the protest is supported by all ages, all classes and what was particularly striking was the leadership and commitment of the women in the movement.
We hope that by giving the award to this film we can bring about a greater awareness of, and more international support for - their struggle. And even as we speak, one of lead protestors Zainab al-Khawaja is currently back in prison like many of her fellow protesters,“ says the jury member Emin Milli from Azerbaijan.
The Special Mention goes to a film Where Heaven Meets Hell directed by Sasha Friedlander (USA / 2012 / 80 min.)
„Not only we were impressed by the imagery in the film but also by the dignity and positive attitudes of the miners despite working in the most appalling conditions. The jury hopes by giving a special mention to this film we can draw attention to labor conditions that contravene human rights worldwide,“ says the jury member Karen Davies from UNRIC.
Members of the Grand Jury were: Emin Milli (a blogger and human rights activist from Azerbaijan), Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (a human rights activist and lawyer from Uganda), Karen Davies (UNRIC, Bruxelles) and Svetlana Belova (a social worker and activist from Transnistria).
Czech Radio Jury
The Czech Radio jury awards the innovative use of music and sound in the documentaries.
The Czech Radio Jury Award goes to the film Village at the End of the World directed by Sarah Gavron a David Katznelson (Great Britain, Denmark / 2012 / 76 min.)
„The Jury was struck by the minimalist music that perfectly fits to the atmosphere of the film and corresponds with its´ visual aspect. We have appreciated the technical quality of the contact sound as well as the neatly executed sound postproduction. We appraise the professional recording of the real sound and it´s perfectly balanced dynamics,” states the jury.
Members of the Grand Jury were Czech Radio staff Hubert Bittman, Ladislav Reich and Tomáš Zikmund.
Student Jury
Student jury selects from a school film collection. Its members are mainly high school students and organizers of the Student film clubs of One World at Schools project.
The Student Jury Award goes to the filmPutin's KissbyLise Birk Pedersen (Denmark / 2012 / 58 min.).
“After a difficult decision-making process with the short-listed documentaries we have selected the movie that talks about the situation in contemporary Russia. It reveals the topic, that is not so well known to us and it raises number of questions to be discussed. We have also appreciated the formal aspect of the movie. We have especially identified with the main character Masha, who is in our age,“ says the statement of the jury.
Student Jury members were: Aneta Dlouhá, Jakub Štrom, Matěj Brothánek, Simona Vochyánová a Lucie Podsedníková.
Bageterie Boulevard Audience Award
The audiences have been voting for the most favorite movie in all festival cinemas until the last Tuesday screening. The Audience Award will be announced during the closing ceremony in Lucerna Cinema in Prague on March 13, 2013.
Awarded movies screenings
The awarded films will be screened on Wednesday, March 13 in following cinemas:
Atlas, Large Hall
17:30 Bahrain, the Forbidden Country
19:30 Where Heaven Meets Hell
21:30 Village at the End of the World
Lucerna
22:00 The Act of Killing
Světozor, Large Hall
16:00 North of the Sun, added for the popular demand
17:15 Bageterie Boulevard Audience Award Winner
19:30 A World Not Ours
21:45 Entangled
For more information please go to www.oneworld.cz or contact Jiří Sulženko on 739 320 644, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Closing Ceremony access is on invitation only.
Photos of the winning films can be downloaded from the Press section of the One World festival website.
