ONE WORLD 2010
12/3/2010 17:15 - International Human Rights Film Festival - 12th edition
PROGRAMME AT THE ARCHA THEATRE:
17:15 The Pack of White Wolves / The Pack of White Wolves
Yorgos Avgeropoulos / Greece / 2008 / 63 min.
Even though it seems inconceivable (and not just to veterans of the Second World War), Russia is home to the largest number of neo-Nazis in the world. Thousands of people in this country are members of various fascist organisations like the SS (Slavic Union) and several hundred thousand others are more or less active sympathisers, including many Russian police officers and officials. Consequently, the vast majority of brutal murders carried out by neo-Nazis in Moscow and St. Petersburg have not been investigated at all. In the first four months of 2008 alone, neo-Nazis attacked 211 people in Russia, 53 of whom were stabbed or kicked to death. This alarming documentary by Yorgos Avgeropoulos uses countless amounts of amateur footage of brutal attacks, which Russian neo-Nazis themselves filmed and proudly posted on the internet. Footage of two immigrants being executed under a flag with a swastika leaves a chilling impression, as do interviews with members of Russian fascist organisations, whose increasing activity represents another dark underbelly of contemporary Russia.
19:15 Václav Havel, Prague - Castle / Václav Havel, Praha - Hrad
Petr Jančárek / Czech Republic / 2009 / 57 min.
When Václav Havel was elected president on 29 December 1989, he and his advisors' immediate goal was to lead the country to its first free elections and to remove Soviet forces from Czechoslovak territory as quickly as possible. Petr Jančárek's documentary devotes itself to the first six months of Havel's presidency. We see the ex-president's occasional frantic nature, his worries and small pleasures. We also discover the personality of Václav Havel, as seen through the eyes of those around him. The film chronicles his first trips to European countries, the USA and the Soviet Union. It also depicts his historically significant speech to the United States Congress as well as the first visits of Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama to the former Czechoslovakia. The director also does not neglect to look at the work of Olga Havlová, who refused the normal role of a "First Lady" and became a civic activist. Jančárek's film presents the complex personality of the former president, who suddenly went from being a dissident to become the head of a free democratic state.
Discussion
21:45 Revolution Girls / Holky z fildy
Taťána Marková, Nataša Dudinski / Czech Republic / 2009 / 70 min.
Nataša Dudinski and Taťána Marková's documentary looks at the twenty years that have passed since the Velvet Revolution and the first European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic. Four graduates of Charles University's Faculty of Arts, who were active members of the student strike committee in 1989, recall the past two decades of their lives. Jana Hybášková entered politics and represented the Czech Republic in the European Parliament. After several years working in the media and the civil service, Alena Ježková became a writer, who was nominated for the Magnesia Litera prize. Pavla Milcová sings and writes songs for herself and other artists. Alice Rahmanová is a translator, who has opened her own agency and is thinking about running for mayor in the municipality where she lives. Personal disappointments and feelings of happiness also loom large in their stories. What did their involvement at the time of the revolution give these women, and how do they view it today. After 20 years, is women's route into politics in the Czech Republic a well trodden path?
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Between March 10–18, 2010 the One World International Human Rights Film Festival will be held in Prague, then it moves on to 29 towns and cities throughout the Czech Republic.
Over 100 films, dozens of foreign guests – primarily film directors, screenings for schools, streamed films online, a range of accompanying events and more – these are the things that you can look forward to at the 12th edition of One World. The main festival will be held in Prague between March 10 – 18, 2010 followed by the Regional One World festivals in 29 towns and cities of the Czech Republic through the end of March into early April. In addition, a select number of films screened at One World, the biggest human rights documentary film festival in Europe, will be presented in Brussels in mid April.
This year’s festival will feature 101 documentary films from over 30 countries within both competition and thematic categories. These have been selected from more than 1600 submitted films. This year’s festival will open with the Iranian documentary Green Days, which portrays a current and striking example of human rights being repressed. As always, the main festival centre will be at the Lucerna Cinema. The other festival venues will be Světozor (2 halls), Divadlo Archa, Atlas (2 halls), The French Institute, The Municipal Library of Prague and Evald. Tickets will be available at ticket offices of the festival venues. The price will be the same as last year – 70 CZK.
One World will be held under the auspices of Václav Havel, the minister of culture Václav Riedlbauch and the mayor of Prague Pavel Bém.
More info at www.oneworld.cz
Organised by People In Need - www.peopleinneed.cz
TICKETS: CZK 70
On sale at Archa Theatre Box Office from February 15, 2010
The Pack of White Wolves
