One World Festival in Brussels
24.04.2015 / 16:15
The most intriguing documentaries from the One World 2015 festival of human rights documentary films will be screened in Brussels from 4 to 12 May. The programme is dominated by films from countries of the former Soviet Union.
The festival will open with a screening of Children 404 about the bullying of LGBT people in Russia, with director Pavel Loparev personally in attendance. The screening will be followed by a debate about the suppression of freedom in Russia. The festival will be ceremoniously opened on 4 May at 8:00 p.m. in the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts by Commissioner for Justice, Consumer Protection and Gender Issues Věra Jourová and Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the EU ambassador Martin Povejšil.
The 9th annual One World Festival in Brussels also opens up other current topics. For example, it will present Danish hit Warriors from the North about second generation Somali migrants who leave Europe to join Al-Shabab units in Africa. The film won the Student Jury Award in Prague. Director Søren Steen Jespersen, who got a lot of media attention in Prague, will attend the Brussels screening.
The 18 selected documentary films also include this year's Oscar winner Citizenfour by German director Laura Poitras about whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Some two dozen foreign guests will head to Brussels for debates connected with the presented films. They include Sakharov Prize winners: famous Syrian caricaturist Ali Ferzat will come for the documentary about the war in Syria The Red Line; Olivier Basile of Reporters Without Borders will debate after the documentary Warriors from the North; and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, who despite a job offer in Europe stayed in his country to help victims of violence, will talk about the film National Diploma.
The screenings will this year again take place in the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, the European Parliament, the Goethe Institute, Norway House and the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU. A new festival venue is the Aventure Cinema, meaning that One World will come closer to its audience in the centre of Brussels.
Most of the screenings (except the opening film in Bozar and screenings in Aventure Cinema) are free of charge. However, tickets must be registered for in advance. There are additional requirements for attending the screenings at the European Parliament (EP) for those that do not already have an accreditation to enter the EP.
The Festival is organised by People in Need in cooperation with the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union, the Czech Centre in Brussels, the European Parliament, Sakharov Prize Network, the Goethe Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute, the Danish Cultural Institute, the Representation of Norway to the EU, organisations from the Human Rights and Democracy Network, the United Nations Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels, the Heinrich Boell Stiftung organisation and the Frank Bold international team of lawyers.