ONE WORLD 2010
16/3/2010 17:15 - International Human Rights Film Festival - 12th edition
PROGRAMME AT THE ARCHA THEATRE:
17:15 Tobacco Girl / Tabakmädchen
Biljana Garvanlieva / Germany / 2009 / 30 min.
14-year-old Mümine lives high up in the Macedonian mountains in the village of Kodzalija. Her family makes its living growing tobacco. They belong to the local Turkish minority and they meticulously observe their traditions. According to these customs, they can demand money from the prospective suitor of one of their daughters in return for the girl. Consequently, Mümine's parents are duly looking forward to the marriage of their daughters. But Mümine is not interested in such an arrangement. Her intended husband is poor and anyhow she would prefer to go to the city to study at secondary school. This gently flowing film is permeated with the striking, sometimes even grotesque, contrasts between traditions and the modern way of life, such as when Mümine's family take a brand new cooker home from the city on a tractor, or cannot move into a newly built house with Perspex windows before performing an animal sacrifice ritual. Biljana Garvanlieva's refreshing documentary about interweaving the old and the new is pleasingly underscored with ethnic music.
Under Cuban Skies / Under Cuban Skies
Carlos Montaner / USA / 2009 / 29 min.
You have to meet certain conditions before you can even think of getting a good job in Cuba. Besides having the qualifications and talent necessary for your chosen profession, it is important to be on good terms with the country's political regime, i.e. by joining or otherwise cooperating with the Communist Party. The government selects employees for foreign companies in the country and also pays them itself, just like its own civil servants. Most of the money, however, is swallowed up by the state treasury. Labour unions are controlled by the government; independent unions are illegal. Carlos Montaner's documentary offers valuable testimony from journalists, trade unionists and émigrés about the organisation of the labour market in Cuba. Their descriptions are underscored by accounts of the situation in free Spanish-speaking countries, where it is possible to be a member of a free trade union, to open your own business or to apply for work without being worried about political vetting. This film illustrates how the governing ideology in Cuba permeates all aspects of a person's everyday life.
Back to the Good Land / De volta a terra boa
Vincent Carelli / Brazil / 2008 / 21 min.
The arrival of the "white man" around the beginning of the 1970s threatened the existence of the Panará tribe of Indians in the Amazon rain forest, as the interlopers brought pollution that led to the natives suffering from new illnesses. In 1973 more whites "helped" them when they moved the tribe a long distance from their home to where the soil is less fertile. The Indians decide, therefore, to demand a return to a place the white man has illegally occupied in order to mine gold. This documentary shows how an ethnic group can fight for their rights and maintain their traditions, which are closely tied to the land in which they are rooted.
Road of Dreams / Road of Dreams
Mona Rafatzadeh / Iran / 2009 / 17 min.
Iranian director Mona Rafatzadeh went onto the streets of Teheran with a camera to find out what people yearned for the most. From children's dreams of golden shoes, a miniature camera or a nest of magic wood, more realistic ambitions gradually emerge, such as a trip to Mecca, good health or enough money to pay off one's debts. With increasing frequency, however, she learns from her respondents how much they currently want to leave Iran. This briskly edited survey documentary with impressive music and footage from the streets of Teheran contains the opinions of people of all ages and social classes, and it paints an eloquent picture of contemporary Iranian society.
19:15 Orphans of Burma's Cyclone / Orphans of Burma's Cyclone
Evan Williams, Siobhan Sinnerton, Jeremy Williams / Burma, UK / 2009 / 45 min.
On 3 May 2008, Burma was hit by Cyclone Nargis, which left over 150,000 people dead and almost two million without shelter. Tens of thousands lost both their parents and their homes overnight, among them one of the film's protagonists, 10-year-old Ye Pyint, who herself now looks after her six-year-old sister and three-year-old brother. Though many countries offered Burma humanitarian assistance, the country's military junta turned it down. The generals also barred aid workers from entering the country; for fear that the presence of foreigners could undermine their authority. This powerful film by two brave cameramen from the exile organisation Democratic Voice of Burma is one of the few records of the disaster and its consequences. Despite the threat of lengthy jail terms, the two reporters succeeded in mapping the fates of several orphans, as well as capturing the everyday lives of ordinary people in one of the most brutal and tightly controlled regimes in the world.
Discussion on Burma + Ending Impunity (10 min)
21:45 Girls on the Air / Girls on the Air
Valentina Monti / Italy / 2009 / 59 min.
25-year-old Humaira definitely does not conform to the typical idea of an Afghan girl. After studying journalism, she set up the independent station Radio Sahar in 2003. It is the only station managed by women in the entire country and it devotes its main programming to women's issues and opinions, which had previously been completely ignored. Together with her colleagues, the self-confident Humaira hears the stories of girls forced into marriage at a young age, as well as from victims of domestic violence and ordinary women who are not afraid to speak their mind in a country that is still partially controlled by tribal leaders. In this way, they give courage to other women, who would previously have considered the possibility of things like getting divorced to have been completely unrealistic. This documentary by Italian director Valentina Monti presents the relaxed atmosphere that prevails among Radio Sahar's group of resolute editors, who are well aware of how important it is in a country full of illiterate people to spread free information via the airwaves.
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.
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
