One World International Human Rights Documentary Festival (Prague) has grown into the largest human rights documentary film festival in the world over the past 20 years.

With its 2020 edition occurring 03-15 March 2020, Modern Times Review spoke with Festival Director, #Ondřej Kamenický#.

Can you give us some insight into what makes this year’s edition of One World Prague unique?

Among the topics addressed at this year’s festival will be the various manifestations of the environmental crisis within the context of the local landscape, as well as the role humans play in it. One World has been addressing environmental themes for a long time in the UnEarthed category, which just happens to be the festival’s most important thematic grouping this year. The festival’s virtual reality section, which is this year entirely focused on ecology and nature, will allow visitors to travel to forests, to the desert, and even to the highest peaks of an iceberg.

By screening films that are (not just) about the environmental crisis, we want to show the global dimension of the entire problem while focusing chiefly on its impact at the local level. We not only want to draw attention to the issue but to also look for a solution and find inspiration in the specific events.

One World Prague is part of a network of International Human Rights Documentary Film Festivals. Can you speak a little about this network and the role of each festival within it?

One World is one of the co-founders of The Human Rights Film Network (#HRFN) which is a partnership of 43 independent festivals. Through the network, festivals exchange ideas on how to promote human rights films through festivals, broadcasting, and educational programmes. They assist the emergence and establishment of new film festivals on a sound and independent basis.

Can you talk a little about the selection process? What makes a film worthy of screening at One World Prague?

The topic of the film is the key for us when we talk on the selection process. One World is primarily a festival for the general public and strives for mainstreaming human rights (in many cases unpopular) issues as much as possible within Czech society.

Do you have a seminal documentary film?

5 Broken Cameras (2011), the documentary film co-directed by Palestinian #Emad Burnat# and Israeli #Guy Davidi#. It is seminal in terms of finding out what kind of incredible things can be captured on camera. It also helped me to raise awareness of critical filmmaking and everyday struggles of filmmakers working under pressure in dangerous enviroments.

How do you see the genre of documentary trending in the next decade?

It’s not possible to keep current «eternal growth» and competitive angle of the film industry which only causes pressure on filmmakers and film festivals to have exclusive access to new films and screen them in a very restricted way. It would be great if creative documentary films, made mostly by open-minded and independent artist and producers, could show to the rest of the film industry that the future trend is to reach broad audiences and the main goal is to inspire people and make them think critically not to make big money. Laurels and artificial elitism doesn’t make sense as it leads to dividing the society instead of opening dialogue and cultivation of the whole film ecosystem, so necessary in our time.