One World 2009
The eleventh One World festival will be held in Prague from 11 to 19 March 2009 and then travel to further 29 towns and cities throughout the Czech Republic.In addition, a selection of One World films will be presented in Brussels and in Washington DC as part of the Czech Presidency cultural program.
The festival is organized by People in Need and held under the auspices of Václav Havel, the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra, the Minister of Culture Václav Jehlièka, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg, and the Mayor of Prague Pavel Bém.
One World is today the largest and most important human rights film festival in Europe and is firmly established as one of premier cultural and media events in the Czech Republic. One World presents 123 films from all around the globe and seeks to promote the best quality documentary filmmaking on social and political issues. In 2007 One World was awarded UNESCO special mention for its contribution to human rights and peace education.
Traditionally, the Lucerna cinema will be the focal point of the Prague part of the festival. The festival’s other cinemas will be the Svìtozor cinema (two theatres), the Archa theatre, the Atlas cinema (two halls), the French Institute, the Municipal Library (Mìstská knihovna), the Evald cinema, the Ponrepo cinema, and the Minor theatre. The festival’s centre will be at Langhans Gallery.
The opening film will be Anders Østergard's acclaimed documentary Burma VJ - Reporting from a Closed Country whose protagonist is a young Burmese reporter called Joshua. Together with some colleagues from the exiled Democratic Voice of Burma TV station, he decided to make a detailed record of anti-government demonstrations in September 2007 and their subsequent brutal suppression. Footage of the dramatic events from the cameras of these reporters appeared in the news bulletins of all important global media outlets and for a time it was the only way in which the world could find out about the actual situation in Burma. Using the detailed evidence, provided by the work of Joshua and his colleagues (who risked their lives to do it) this film illustrates the indisputable importance of independent media in the fight against totalitarian power.
This year, we decided to reflect on the global challenges facing today’s world. Although we have excellent films about Burma, Iran, Kashmir, Darfur, Ecuador, Venezuela, Congo and North Korea, this year’s festival is not about particular issues. The supporting themes for this year’s event are water, oil, gas, the energy industry, global warming, the economy and the financial crisis. These are subjects that not only crucially affect us here in the Czech Republic but are also of vital importance to people in other parts of the world.
The thematic category 20 Years of Democracy in Film recounts the last 20 years since the fall of communism in Central Europe, as they have been recorded by renowned documentary-makers and young filmmakers. We shall be presenting films that reflect in an original way upon the important challenges, successes and failures that accompanied this period of transformation. This programme will also be available on the Internet, where discussion forum will be set up with a view to inspiring a wider debate on these topics.
A collection of 22 documentaries is available for free at the internet portal. In 2009, we are commemorating the 20th anniversary of the collapse of communist rule in Central Europe. One World and its partner film festivals DOK Leipzig, One World Bratislava, Verzio Budapest and Watch Docs Warsaw are presenting documentary films from acclaimed Central European filmmakers which in different ways address the achievements, challenges and inevitable deceptions accompanying the period of transformation after years under a totalitarian regime.
This year’s One World is paying tribute to Ross McElwee, the important American documentary-maker and Harvard University professor. His work will be presented for the first time ever in the Czech Republic. One World is offering four documentaries from Ross McElwee’s oeuvre. The first of these is Sherman’s March, which will be screened on 14 March in Svetozor Cinema. This 1986 film is McElwee’s most celebrated movie and it won the main jury prize at the Sundance festival. In subsequent days Time Indefinite (1994), Six O'Clock News (1996) and Bright Leaves (2003) will also be presented. Ross McElwee has accepted an invitation to the festival and will attend the screenings of his films. An open Ross McElwee master class will also be held for students of the FAMU film school and the general public in the Ponrepo Cinema after the screening of Bright Leaves.
There are countless documentary films about Africa. For this section we have done our utmost to select pictures that take a refreshing look at this continent full of contrasts as opposed to the normal offerings we usually see. Instead of images of AIDS, we have the occasionally humorous tale of Love, Sex and a Moped in Burkina Faso. Instead of violently suppressed demonstrations, we have the story of hip-hoppers whose politically committed music contributes to improving Democracy in Dakar at least a little bit. While men in eastern Congo oscillate between euphoria and nervousness about upcoming elections, women in Kinshasa tirelessly box their way to glory at the Victoire Terminus. We also don’t wish to avoid delicate subjects such as omnipresent poverty and constantly increasing levels of immigration, particularly among younger generations. An impressive documentary by Idrissa Guiro tackles these issues head on. This film provides a portrait of two Senegalese cousins, one of whom decides to stay at home and teach after studying in America while the other elects to emigrate to Barcelona or Die. Despite often living alone or with unemployed men, some determined Senegalese women still diligently run their businesses, have dreams or embark on voyages of self discovery. Victims of Our Riches asks why Africans suffer because of their natural resources as well as financial and humanitarian aid from abroad. This absorbing filmic essay by Malian director Touré Kal tries to analyse the causes of African poverty. There are countless documentaries about Africa, but these films are worth seeing.
Exceptionally we will be presenting a fiction film. The film in question is Zdenìk Tyc’s El Paso, which is inspired by the true story of a Roma widow and mother of nine children. We won’tjust be screening this movie in Prague, but will also be showing it in the other towns and cities where the festival is being held.
One World for Students is a film collection for the higher grades of primary school and secondary school students. Every screening will be followed by a debate with en experton the given theme.
Once again a special student jury will decide on the best film from the collection of film for students. Last year, the festival’s school screenings were attended by 10 000 people in Prague, and by a further 34 000 in regional areas.
This year, we will also give our audiences a chance to see the films with the best attendances and which have been the biggest hits with audiences after the festival ends. The choice of films will be decided by audience’s votes.
Furthermore, in cooperation with the Divadlo Minor theatre, this year will be the first time we present a programme lasting several days called One World for Parents and Children, which consists of short films for the youngest audiences. Screenings for parents with a special children’s corner for their children will be shown in the early evening. These screenings will be intended primarily for parents, who have small children and want to attend One World, but who have no one to look after their kids.
At 2 pm on Thursday, 12 March and Wednesday, 18 March, we will be hosting two screenings with a debate for senior citizens. Films from our programme have been selected by actual representatives of the elderly community and admission for these people will be free.
This year, we would like to slightly disrupt the “centralised” nature of the Prague part of the festival. Consequently, we are preparing pilot festivals in two city districts, which are further away from the centre, but which each have good facilities for organising interesting cultural events and other happenings. The selected city districts are Prague 4, with its Novodvorská Cultural Centre as well as a screening venue at the Spoĝilov Cultural Centre, and Prague 11, where screenings will be held at the Zahrada Cultural Centre.
We managed to break the threshold of 100,000 viewers last year. We hope and believe that thanks to the special events we will attract even those who have heard of One World but have not yet taken part in it.