One World Film Festival


One World is the largest human rights film festival in the world
, held annually in Prague and other 36 cities of the Czech Republic, with a selection later shown in Brussels and other countries. The festival deals with quality documentary films on social, political, environmental, media and human rights issues. One World presents over 120 documentary films from all around the globe and organizes numerous Q&As with filmmakers and experts.

History

Established in 1999 by Igor Blaževič and the Czech NGO People in Need, the One World Festival presents over 100 documentary films during nine days in Spring from around the world. It is a founding member of the Human Rights Film Network, which brings together 33 festivals around the world.
In 2006, the festival received a Special Mention from UNESCO for its contribution to human rights and peace education. Three years later, in 2009, One World published a handbook entitled Setting Up a Human Rights Film Festival, which offers practical advice as well as case studies of prominent human rights events.
In 2018, the One World Festival was in its 20th year and took place from 5 – 14 March, presenting 128 documentaries and 9 virtual reality projects from more than 40 countries around the world. In the same year the festival and the NGO People in Need published the handbook Explore Impact: How To Reach New Audiences And Boost Impact, that should serve as an inspiration guide for festival organizers, who care about the social dimension and impact of their work.
One World was held under the auspices of Václav Havel, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg, the Minister of Culture Jiří Besser, and the Mayor of Prague Bohuslav Svoboda.
The 2020 edition of the festival was postponed due to rising concerns over COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Competitions and Awards

One World’s programme consists of three competition categories, a variety of non-competition thematic categories as well as Docs for Kids section. Films are judged by One World’s selection committee, that concentrates equally on both human rights content and artistic quality. Six main awards are given to the winning films:
During the festival, People in Need grants the annual Homo Homini Award to individuals in recognition of a dedication to promote human rights, democracy and nonviolent solutions to political conflicts. The 2011 award went to the underground network of Syrian doctors, Doctors Coordinate of Damascus, for their work in aiding victims of violence in Syria.
Winners of the Homo Homini Award