One World reveals the first films of this year's festival edition
Published: Feb 8, 2023 Reading time: 4 minutes
This year's theme - The Cost of Safety - will be reflected in all selected competition and non-competition films at One World. For each film, the festival plans special discussions with guests from around the world to put the movies and their themes into a broader context.
Czech Competition and more
In February, Slovakia will mark five years since the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. Director Matt Sarnecki’s Kuciak: The Murder of a Journalist revisits a case that reaches across the mafia and into the highest political echelons. The film, entered in the Czech Competition, will have its distribution premiere at One World and then be released by Bontonfilm.
The festival will also present Blix in the same section. Director Greta Stocklassa follows a man who once stood alongside the most powerful rulers on the planet and was tasked with finding out whether Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
In the film The Visitors, director Veronika Lišková travels to the northernmost city in the world. It follows anthropologist Zdenka Sokolíčková as she discovers why making a new home in Spitsbergen is far from easy. The documentary Pongo Calling by director Tomáš Kratochvíl also takes the audience beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. It focuses on Štefan Pongo, a Romani truck driver who fights prejudice and discrimination against Roma across Europe.
Happily Ever After shows that love can take many forms. Director Jana Počtová presents stories of people cohabiting in various ways - an open marriage, a polyamorous relationship, or just lovers. Director Soňa G. Lutherová also presents a documentary probe into intimate relationships. A Happy Man follows the story of a family in which one of the parents is going through the process of transition.
What happens after someone breaks the silence? Director Mikoláš Arsenev seeks an answer in After the Silence Was Broken, in which he follows the co-founder of the No! You Must Endure initiative, which draws attention to sexual harassment and abuse of power at Czech art colleges.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis interfered in the characters' lives in Keeping the Faith. Veronika Stehlíková's film presents their stories as they try to fill their remaining time as meaningfully as possible. In his longitudinal documentary Stop Time, director David Čálek looks back at the coronavirus period.
Testimonies from Ukraine and documentaries in the virtual world
What can one do to feel safe? Director Coco Schrijber provides an unconventional answer in Look What You Made Me Do. The film, part of the International Competition, features three women who escaped abusive relationships by murdering their partners. In the competition category You Have the Right to Know, director Adithya Sambamurthy and her film The Journalist and her Jailers take viewers to the first-ever trial against members of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria for crimes against humanity. The film will have its world premiere at the festival, and protagonist Luna Wafta will be our special guest.
One World cannot ignore the unabated aggression in Ukraine as we approach one year since the Russian invasion. One of the thematic categories is therefore dedicated to Ukraine. Overcoming the Darkness is a film made by a collective of Ukrainian filmmakers who offer a glimpse into everyday life amid a raging conflict.
The current crisis in the Finnish eldercare sector and how society treats the elderly is observed by director Susanna Helke in Ruthless Times - Songs of Care, which is part of the thematic category Relationships. One World will, of course, address the energy crisis and sustainability. In The Oil Machine, director Emma Davie gives a glimpse of the problems humanity may face in the future, thanks to the oil industry. The New Gods category will present Polish Prayers by Hana Nobis, a film that follows a young Polish man's journey from conservative Christianity and homophobic views to questioning the existence of God.
Virtual reality has gained a firm foothold in documentary filmmaking in recent years. In this year's competition, Anna Mauersberger and Niki Smit will present The Shape of Us, which confronts audiences with the damage done to the planet by humanity's rapid expansion. The interactive project El Helicoide will show what life is like in the infamous prison for political prisoners in the middle of the Venezuelan capital.
