One World for Families

One World also caters to young audiences. In this category, we present films where children have the opportunity to discover stories of their peers from all around the globe.

Dětští diváci a jejich učitelé zaujatě sledují film v kinosále.

In Touching Darkness and Matúš – I Am Afraid of Heights, we follow the journeys of two young heroes, learning what it’s like to live with a disability while still embracing life to the fullest and conquering personal fears.

The festival also takes us to faraway places: in Japan, we meet ten-year-old Hikari in I Want to Make My Own Rice!, who dreams of preparing a meal for her family but soon realizes that growing her own food requires patience and hard work. In the film With Grace, set in Kenya, we witness a young girl observe her father as he battles drought to keep their farm and family intact.

We also learn that the joy of New Year’s Eve has its darker side – the film And a Happy New Year shows firsthand, through cameras on dogs, how fireworks can instill stress and fear. In the digital world, I Am Influencer focuses on the phenomenon of internet fame, its power, and its pitfalls in the age of ubiquitous social media.

All films are included in the morning school screenings, but you can also watch them during the family screenings on the festival weekend 15. 3.–16. 3. Afterward, there will be thematic workshops or a tour of the projection booth.

All films are in Czech with no subtitles. The moderation between films and the subsequent workshop will also be conducted only in Czech.

Films in category One World for Families

A group of children is standing outside on a rural road while someone is taking their picture with a mobile phone. In the background, there are trees and bushes.

Short documentary

With Grace

Grace is one of 8 siblings living in a Kenyan farming village. Rain falls only twice a year and is vital to her family and neighbours – it keeps crops, animals and people alive. But with changing climate comes increasing drought. Many farmers leave to work in the city.

Simple drawing of a face with half of the face in shadow.

Short documentary

Touching Darkness

Vítek, aged 10, lives in darkness. How does he perceive the world? This short animated film takes us into his daily life, where hearing, touch and a child’s imagination play a major role.

A child in a pink sweater sits next to a potted plant covered with a white net.

Short documentary

Hikari - I want to make my own rice!

Hikari, aged 10, loves rice, and dreams of growing it and cooking meals for her family. She decides to make her dream come true and tries to grow her own rice.

A small dog in a gray sweater is standing on a gravel surface in a park.

Short documentary

And a Happy New Year

New Year’s Eve celebrations are inevitably accompanied by fireworks. While many people enjoy them, for animals, New Year’s Eve is a nightmare.This experimental film brings interesting insights captured by cameras worn by dogs on their collars.

Three young people are relaxing on a couch, two of them are looking at a phone.

Short documentary

I Am Influencer

Influencer culture is a contemporary phenomenon that enters our lives through social networks. But do we think about the content we are actually consuming? And why do we spend 5 minutes watching a person trying to eat several tins of fruit? For influencers, self-presentation is both a natural thing and part of a considered career.

A boy in an orange t-shirt and glasses is standing outside, with a wooden lookout tower in the background.

Short documentary

Matúš – I am afraid of heights

Matúš, aged 12, is afraid of heights. He’s never dared to climb the tower that looms over his hometown. All his classmates have, but not him. He decides to overcome his fear to prove to himself and others that he can do it.

Other Thematic Categories

Osoba v šatech a klobouku sedí na písečné pláži a hledí na rozbouřené moře.

Competitive Film Category

International Competition

The films in the International Competition category use expressive cinematic language to present powerful topical themes in a current human rights context, often from high-profile regions but sometimes from places that are overlooked.

Competitive Film Category

Right to Know

This competitive section with a very meaningful name explores pressing issues that are not given the coverage they deserve. In this year’s eleven films, we take a look beneath the lid of media-neglected countries or events. After several years, we return to places such as Nagorno-Karabakh and Cuba. In Africa, we visit Ethiopia, Niger, and Egypt. And we bear witness to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza through protagonists who are not often heard.

Žena kráčí po Václavském náměstí v kostýmu dinosaura.

Competitive Film Category

Czech Competition

Every year, the competition section dedicated to Czech production and co-production projects offers a diverse mix of themes and documentary approaches. This year’s Czech Competition presents eleven films, five of which will be screened in their world premiere at One World.

Postava s průsvitným tělem stojí v temném prostředí obklopena zářivými geometrickými světly, která se vznášejí kolem ní.

Competitive Film Category

Immersive Films Competition

The Immersive Film Competition presents nine films reflecting diverse human rights issues. Immersive films bring specific knowledge to the audience, often based on the sharing of direct experience. Additionally, in immersive films we enter mental states that transcend everyday life – or are such that we’ve not remembered them.

Muž se třemi chlapci zapalují venku ve tmě silvestrovskou petardu.

Thematic Film Category

Family Webs

Family relationships are the central motif of this year’s programme. Although this topic is scattered across all categories, it also rightfully deserves its own section. Family networks carry an ambivalent meaning – in our selection, they can connect or save but also bind. Seven riveting films capturing the intricate stories of parents and children examine the complex dynamics of relationships.

Dva muži stojí v krajině. Mladší muž v popředí drží v ruce ptačí pero, které si oba prohlíží.

Thematic Film Category

Ecosystems

One of the central social changes of recent decades consists of the development of our environmental consciousness. Reflections on the causes of human superiority over other living organisms, the clash of human interests with the interests of nature, and climate change impacts are thematically united in nine films in the now-traditional section focused on the coexistence of humans and the Earth.

Osoba s vážným a odhodlaným výrazem ve tváři kráčí krajinou při soumraku.

Thematic Film Category

Community Boundaries

The films from the Community Boundaries category take us to more extreme positions of community involvement and we deal with various situations and challenges that communities might be forced to confront. The theme of immigrant communities and their experiences is strongly represented.

Několik lidí, sedících a stojících v místnosti, má protestně přelepená ústa páskou.

Thematic Film Category

Searching For Freedom

The traditional programme category Searching for Freedom is probably the most diverse as far as locations covered are concerned. The ten films contained within it thematise countries afflicted by various forms of oppression and remnants of colonialism, and they track people who often stand in opposition to the dominant regime.

Detailní záběr na obličej osoby s kulatými brýlemi, která intenzivně sleduje obrazovku.

Thematic Film Category

Female Gaze

The category Female Gaze presents ten films that are linked not only through the presence of strong female protagonists but also by the complicated situations in which they find themselves – whether it is war, an effort to break through into a world steeped in masculinity, or the battle to win basic natural rights.

Muž ve výstražné vestě drží v temné noci zapálenou světlici, která ostře osvětluje jeho tvář a okolí.

Thematic Film Category

Male Beings

The Male Beings category offers a space to men and their efforts at self-discovery and breaking down stereotypes about themselves. The selected films are often critical reflections associated with the relationship with one’s surroundings, or the problematic foundations of one’s personal myth and perhaps even the world that created it. In some cases, they provide insights into dark worlds filled with violence and suppressed obsessions.

Bývalá slovenská prezidentka sedí v kanceláři za svým stolem.

Thematic Film Category

The Slovak Journey

The disturbing political developments in our neighbour to the east prompted us to look deeper into how the distinctive “Slovak journey” is reflected. Eight selected films by Slovak directors cover a wide range of topics related to current events – from increasing manifestations of xenophobia, including a longitudinal record of the Slovaks’ relationship with their cultural heritage, to the exposure of mafia practices at the highest political levels.

Thematic Film Category