ONE WORLD IN BRIEF

After last year’s premiere, the programme of the One World film festival will once again include One World in Brief – a section dedicated to the latest exceptional short documentary films. Its unifying theme, as well as the theme of the entire 23rd edition of the festival, is HOME. We usually associate this abstract concept with a place where we spend time with our loved ones or with a sense of security. For some of us it can also represent a prison, a painful memory or insecurity. In 88 minutes, the creators of our six foreign-produced short films will tell you stories about home in its various spheres and from different perspectives. You’ll see how the main protagonists of the selected films try to find a new home, how they cope with its loss, how they try to save their own lives marked by traumatising events, and the study of home in sociological research.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmakers: Jeanne Susplugas (online), Tomáš Krupa, Anatoliy Tatarenko and Myro Klochko, Andrii Bondarenko

MASKS AND MEN 

Maski i ludzie / Paweł Łoziński / Poľsko / 2020 / 11 min.

“The passage of time during the pandemic has grown to become my character. The world froze, together with the camera on my balcony. I’m watching a shard of the world in a frame and a unique slice of time we have all found ourselves in. I listen intently to abrupt silence. But life that has slowed down continues under my balcony. New characters are moving along like on the stage. I’m asking people questions I cannot answer myself – what will come next?” (Paweł Łoziński) 

PEACE AND TRANQUILITY 

Myr i spokii / Myro Klochko, Anatolii Tatarenko / Ukraine / 2022 / 12 min. / Ukrainian 

As Russian troops were crossing into Ukraine, Andrii Bondarenko wrote a play that looks back on a life book ended by conflict. 

HAMMOUDIʼS DREAM 

Hammoudiʼs droom / Els van Driel, Eefje Blankevoort / Netherlands / 2021 / 25 min. / Arabic, Dutch 

Mohammed – nicknamed Hammoudi – is 14 when he flees Syria. He and his older brother leave their mother and sisters behind and mainly walk all the way from Syria to Europe. It is a long and tough journey on which they encounter dangerous obstacles such as minefields, wild animals and violent border guards. Mohammed’s journey seems like a nightmare. Meanwhile, he continues to dream of a future becoming a doctor. But once he arrives in the Netherlands, it turns out to be difficult to learn the language. And procedures take a long time. He hasn’t seen his mom for over 3 years. Will his dream come true and will his mother and sisters finally arrive from Syria? 

BURNT. LAND OF FIRE 

Grigio. Terrabruciata / Ben Donateo / Switzerland, Italy / 2020 / 15 min. / Italian 

The documentary captures life on a little village of the southern Italy, Calabria. Hit by the migration of the young people to the north, Burnt. Land of Fire tells about whatʼs left in the country. 

WE HAVE TO SURVIVE: FUKUSHIMA! 

Musíme prežiť: Fukušima! / Tomáš Krupa / Slovakia / 2022 / 13 min. / Japanese 

Ten years ago, in March 2011, three reactors went into meltdown at the nuclear power station in Fukushima, Japan, having been damaged by an earthquake and tsunami. Everyone within 20km of the plant was evacuated, but Naoto Matsumura chose to stay – the sole person remaining out of 80,000 residents. Now he continues living there without any symptoms of radiation sickness, taking care of abandoned animals in an area that is being systematically cleaned by the Japanese government and prepared for new life. But the question is how to deal with a world that is teetering on the edge of a climate catastrophe. 

WHTS: Fukushima! is a standalone episode existing independently of the upcoming full-length version of the globe-trotting, climate-change-related documentary We Have to Survive (shortened to WHTS). The WHTS feature documentary and accompanying spin-off series will raise awareness about the current and future impacts of climate change on our lives by telling the personal stories of people living in already affected areas. 

YOU ARE NOT CRAZY

Tʼes pas folle / Jeanne Susplugas / France / 2020 / 12 min. / French

Puppets in a support group discuss intimate-partner and family violence in order to escape its influence. The manipulated victims are like puppets. In their conversations, they mention in particular the double suffering – that of a justice system that legitimizes this violence.

The short-film section at the One World film festival was prepared by Nina Ulická, a student of the Department of Audiovisual Studies at the Academy of Performing Arts.