Lenka Kačmárová

Lost in the Present

The international One World Film Festival will celebrate 20 years in autumn.

It sounds unbelievable but our festival, thanks to the non-profit organization People in Need, has been bringing the best of the world of documentary films to Slovak viewers for two decades already. At the same time, it is still the only cultural and educational event in Slovakia dealing comprehensively with human rights and global issues.

During this year’s birthday celebrations full of high-quality cinematography, not only through the screen throughout Slovakia but also in various discussions, we look back into the past to move smoothly into the present and then reflect ‘here and now’ about our future.

30 years have passed since the Velvet Revolution and it is time to discuss how our history has affected us – what we took from it, what we learnt from it, what we forget and what we overlook. We will try to name where we have been able to move over the years, what slows us down in further development and on the contrary, what could be our drive to create and sustain a responsible and cohesive society.

The topic of the 20th anniversary is ‚Lost in the Present’. As the sub-topics, we have chosen four important sectors which, whenever we admit it or not, directly concern us: climate change, interpersonal relations, technological development and social situation & political regimes.

The Mayor of Bratislava, Matúš Vallo, and the Mayor of Old Town Bratislava, Zuzana Aufrichtová, took the patronage over this year.

The opening film of the festival will be director Zuzana Piussi’s Stolen State in a special pre-premiere. We are looking forward to seeing you because we can only create a more beautiful and better One World Film Festival with you!