Rules and regulations of the international documentary film festival One World 2022 – 2024 

Article I. 

The international documentary film festival One World is a specialised film festival organised by the non-profit organisation People in Need, based in Baštová 343/5, 811 03 Bratislava (https://clovekvohrozeni.sk/people-in-need-slovakia/). The goal of the festival is to contribute to the development and propagation of documentary film and through this lead society towards open and critical discussion. 

Article II. 

The festival takes place in early October in Bratislava and online in the entire Slovak Republic. As part of the festival’s year-long project, One World in Communities, screenings will take place at various times throughout the given years in other parts of Slovakia. 

Article III. 

The festival competition programme consists of the Slovak and Czech International Documentary Film Competition for Human Rights, which consists of five predominantly Slovak and five predominantly Czech films. The programme board can decide to increase the number of films in the competition as well as to change the parity of Slovak and Czech films. The festival competition programme can feature only works over 60 minutes long and produced after 1 January 2021. 

The purpose of the competition programme is to annually point out the best in our region and generate discussion about the quality, intersections and differences in domestic and local productions. 

The non-competition programme of the festival consists of film screenings in the following sections: Life is Beautiful, Crowned with Laurels, Around the World, Focus, One World in Short, and My Street Films. 

From 2023, for the first time, a competition will be held as part of the festival’s industry programme, called Days of Change. As part of this programme, professional filmmakers have the opportunity to create their own impact campaign, i.e., a campaign with a social impact. This three-day workshop will conclude with a pitching of campaigns, from which the jury will select the best one. 

Article IV. 

The formats of the films accepted into the festival programme will be specified after the film is officially invited. All films included in the festival programme are screened in their original language and must be accompanied by English subtitles, which are the responsibility of the party submitting the film. Subtitles for hearing-impaired viewers and audio commentary for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers are welcome. 

Article V. 

The pre-selection of films is performed by a programme team of experts. The time schedule of the programme, including the order of the film screenings, is also determined by the programme team. Owners of screening rights (hereinafter referred to as applicants) can register their films for the international competition until 1 August. Applications for the competition are available on the festival website by filling out the online form at www.jedensvet.sk and uploading the film online according to the instructions in the application. The applicant cannot withdraw the film from the festival programme after officially confirming its inclusion. Copies of films sent to the competition will be returned to the sender or another addressee according to the applicant’s instructions after the event. The programme team may move the registered film to a different section. Participants will be informed about the results of pre-selection by 1 September. 

Films entered to the non-competition programme are selected by the same programme team, but not through the programme form. The programme team selects films other than Slovak or Czech over 50 minutes long and shot after January 2020, based on their own initiative and research of the international audiovisual environment. 

Article VI. 

It is mandatory for the applicant to follow the instructions regarding copies of films, which will be delivered together with notification of the film’s inclusion in the programme. Applicants will send copies of the invited films after receiving detailed instructions on the specified format of the submitted film from the festival’s organisational team. All films that will be included in the festival competition programme will be screened without a claim to an honorarium for the rights to screen the registered film. 

Article VII. 

For each selected film, the festival must receive detailed documentation by the set deadline, including: a) a properly completed application; b) a synopsis of the film (in electronic form); c) a photograph of the director, CV and filmography of the director (in electronic form); and d) a copy of the original script and its translation into English (in electronic form). The provided documentation will not be returned to the applicant. The applicant agrees that a maximum of three minutes of the film may be used by the non-profit organization People in Need to promote the One World 2022, 2023, and 2024 festivals in any medium. Previews of the films will be presented on the festival premises, broadcast on TV stations promoting One World, on the festival website, during multimedia presentations and during the festival itself, or within the programme of One World regional festivals throughout the year. One World reserves the right to use still shots from the films in its promotional materials (in the festival catalogue, festival diary, leaflets, posters, billboards, website, in multimedia presentations) and to provide them to the media for the purpose of informing about the festival. 

Article VIII. 

The festival’s organisational team decides on the invitation of guests; the festival gives priority to the invitation of the creators of the competition films. Applicants whose film will be included in the (competition and non-competition) festival programme receive accreditation for the festival. Accommodation costs will be reimbursed to the invited creators up to an amount that corresponds with the financial possibilities of the given year of the festival. Invited guests will be contacted personally via email. 

Article IX. 

The international jury consists of prominent representatives of culture, filmmaking, theory and criticism, filmmakers and producers, journalists, and other significant figures, while one of its members is the former winner of the competition section Slovakia and the Czech Republic for Human Rights. A member of the international jury cannot be a person who participated in the creation of any of the films presented in the relevant competition. All jury members are bound by confidentiality. The director of the festival, the artistic director, the coordinator, or their representatives can participate in the jury sessions, but they do not participate in the voting. Juries make decisions based on a majority of votes of the present voting members. The jury announces the results at the festival closing ceremony. The jury has the right to award non-statutory prizes, so-called special recognition, to other films as well. Filling out an application form and sending/uploading a film presupposes agreement with these rules and regulations. 

The jury of the industry Days of Change programme is composed of experts and representatives from fields such as culture, film production and distribution, the third sector, public administration, media, and other areas. A member of the jury of the industry programme cannot be a person who has participated in the creation of any of the films that took part in the workshop of the industry programme Days of Change. Other rules for the jury are the same as for the international jury. 

Article X. 

The winning film of the festival receives the Main Prize, which includes a financial reward of €2,000. 

The winning workshop project in the industry Days of Change programme receives prizes agreed with the programme partners, which may vary from year to year.