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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Thematic Film Category

People in Need Presents