Each year, the Czech Film Competition at the One World International Human Rights Film Festival spotlights some of the most compelling Czech documentaries of the year. Scheduled from 12 March to 27 April across 57 cities in the Czech Republic, the 2025 lineup continues this tradition with eleven films, five of which will have their world premieres at the festival. This year’s selection reflects an urgent engagement with social and political realities and a willingness to push the boundaries of the documentary form.
A legacy of resistance and reflection
Since its inception, the One World International Human Rights Film Festival has been a vital space for Czech documentarians to address pressing societal issues. The Czech Film Competition, introduced to celebrate domestic production, has become a crucial platform for filmmakers tackling systemic #inequality, political #activism, and #media ethics#. Past winners, such as The Czechs Against Czechs (2022), which examined anti-Roma sentiments, and Caught in the Net (2020), which exposed online child exploitation, underscore the festival’s commitment to hard-hitting narratives that challenge audiences and provoke meaningful dialogue.
The 2025 lineup
This year’s competition features two dominant themes—one deeply rooted in Czech society, the other looking outward to international struggles.
Among the locally focused films, Tomáš Hlaváček’s The Impossibility stands out for its raw portrayal of #housing injustice#. By embedding himself among the tenants of a dilapidated apartment block, Hlaváček captures the relentless battle between vulnerable renters and an unscrupulous landlord, exposing the harsh realities of a broken housing system. On a more personal scale, Marie-Magdalena Kochová’s The Other One offers a moving exploration of the lives of «glass children»—siblings of children with disabilities who often sacrifice their own needs and dreams to care for their family members.
On a broader scale, David Čálek’s Doctor on a Trip transports audiences to the #Amazon, where Czech scientists explore indigenous #psychedelic medicine as a potential treatment for mental health conditions. Meanwhile, Satan Kingdom Babylon, directed by Petr and Marie Šprincl, presents a surreal and unsettling hybrid of documentary and experimental filmmaking, blending real footage from the U.S. with eerie digital animation to explore the darker recesses of the American psyche.
When Cinema becomes protest
Several films in this year’s competition highlight the intersection of documentary filmmaking and activism. Fakir follows a young #Roma man navigating post-incarceration life while trying to protect his younger brother from the cycle of abuse and neglect. Million Moments offers an inside look at the grassroots movement that sought to challenge populist politics in the #Czech Republic#, revealing the personal and strategic struggles behind mass mobilisation. Pit Stop Reporter dives into the disinformation crisis, following journalist #Ivana Svobodová# as she confronts #misinformation and anti-media sentiment at public protests.
Activism takes a more creative form in Urban Disobedience Toolkit, a guerrilla-style manual for reclaiming public space from corporate and governmental #control. Revolution 3.0 tells the story of exiled Iranian filmmaker #Reza Bird#, whose political activism forced him to flee his home country for the U.S. In a different vein, Scent Evidence scrutinises the reliability of forensic science, challenging the assumption that modern investigative methods are infallible.
The festival also features Volver a Volver, a deeply personal documentary about the Venezuelan #diaspora. Like many of this year’s selections, it exemplifies the power of documentary cinema to amplify marginalised voices and bring urgent global issues to the forefront.
