This year’s visual design and the festival trailer build on last year’s signature style. The core design still features a square intersected by a circle – which, especially in the festival trailer, is a nod to a camera lens capturing what’s usually hidden in plain sight. 

Two well-established Czech Designers, Martin Odehnal and Petr Hrůza, are once again behind this year’s bold new look. “The imagery we chose relays an urgent message about current events while leaving space for personal interpretation. Everyone will find a meaning in it that resonates most with their own questions and concerns,” said the duo. In this year´s visual design, you can find tenderness, hope, as well as the concern for the fragile world that calls for our protection. It can be seen as a symbol of sympathy and humanity 

The Slovak Journey 

This year’s festival is placing special focus on the social and political upheavals in neighboring Slovakia. A special non-competitive category, The Slovak Journey, highlights the fragility of democracy, the role of civil society, and the complex realities of a country that Europe has been watching with bated breath. 

“Slovak filmmakers and creatives have always been an integral part of One World. The turbulent events of the past few months have made it clear that we must take a closer look at Slovakia’s social and political evolution from a broader perspective, which is not commonly covered in mainstream media,” said festival director Ondřej Kamenický on The Slovak Journey. “We’ll be showcasing works from established filmmakers as well as student films from the younger generation,” he added. 

One standout film in this section is Question of the Future by director Maroš Brázda. This time-lapse documentary follows a high school class in Bratislava over several months, capturing their senior prom, which just so happened to coincide with the results tally for the 2023 parliamentary elections. The film draws attention to the country’s ongoing brain drain trends as young Slovaks continue to emigrate abroad. 

The stories of protest, injustice in digital age and personal stories

One World isn’t shying away from hard-hitting topics, diving into the lives of people standing up to political injustice and oppression in various ways. Take, for instance, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a documentary that follows Russian teacher Pavel Talankin. This film pulls back the curtain on what day-to-day life looks like during wartime and lays bare the pervasive mechanisms of Russian propaganda. 

Next, let’s talk about the U.S.. With Donald Trump back in the White House, Zurawski v Texas feels even more urgent. Denied a life-saving abortion by Texas law, Amanda Zurawski teams up with her lawyer to take on the system. It’s a gut-punch of a story about seeking justice in a country where women’s rights are still up for debate. 

Technology is now an inseparable part of our lives, but what’s lurking behind our screens? One World is tackling the murky side of the online world, starting with Can’t Feel Nothing, a deep dive by David Borenstein into the ways social media manipulates our emotions. Featuring perspectives from both experts and influencers, this documentary delves into the massive industry of buying and selling human feelings. 

Sometimes, it’s the most personal stories that pack the biggest punch. A Man Fell  by Giovanni C. Lorussa follows 11-year-old Arafat, one of Gaza’s refugees living in an abandoned hospital in Beirut. As Arafat wanders the hospital’s winding streets, he listens to the stories of local residents. This poignant documentary offers a powerful account of the despair and trauma faced by the Palestinian people, seen through the eyes of a child struggling to find his place in a fractured world.