One World Festival

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Code Completion Credits Range Language Instruction Semester
303MFEJS credit 1 6 seminar hours (45 min) of instruction per semester, 21 to 26 hours of self-study English, Czech summer

Subject guarantor

Name of lecturer(s)

Department

Předmět zajišťuje Department of Documentary Film

Contents

Every year, One World highlights important issues that move society. In addition to the traditional competition sections, the programme of the twenty-sixth edition of the festival will offer seven non-competition categories, grouping films by theme into Identity, Layers of Power, Middle East, Ecosystems, The Search for Freedom, Edges of Adolescence and Communities. The new categories will also include fictional films with a human rights theme.

The International Competition will present the Czech premiere of Flickering Lights. The documentary about the electrification of a village on the India-Myanmar border was awarded the Best Cinematography Award at the IDFA International Competition last year. Director Anupama Srinivasan and filmmaker Anirban Dutta will also discuss the film in their FAMU masterclass on Monday, 25 March 2024, 7-8:30pm at the FAMU Screening Room.

Annotation of the film Flickering Lights:

The rhythm of life in the village of Tora on the India-Myanmar border is entirely dependent on the alternation of daylight and the darkness of night. The documentary follows the slow process of electrification and what happens when the glow of fluorescent lamps falls on things shrouded in darkness. Tora is a forgotten part of the world where there are no roads, no school, no water supply and no work. Instead, there is a long-standing conflict between the local community and the government. Time seems to stand still here, with locals cooking at home on open fires, weaving baskets of grass by torchlight and singing religious hymns in the evenings. Everyone believes that electricity will spark positive change, bringing new economic opportunities and the desired independence from the outside world. But when the first light bulbs go on and the dream fridge arrives, locals are beginning to realise that the price of technological progress is the loss of values they have taken for granted.

Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Dutta live in Delhi, India. Srinivasan is a graduate of Harvard and the Film and Television Institute of India, while Dutta began his career in television. Over the years they have directed their individual documentary projects, and in the last year they have released two feature films together - Flickering Lights (2023, Flickering Lights) and Nocturnes (2024). The latter won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft at the recent Sundance Film Festival.

From Wednesday, March 20 to Friday, March 22, 2024, FAMU Projection will also host screenings of films from the Czech One World Jury Competition; FAMU students and faculty are welcome to attend these screenings - admission is free:

Wednesday 20 March. FAMU screening

15:30 - 17:00 This is Havel, can you hear me? (dir. Petr Jančárek, 2023, 86´)

Unpublished footage from the last three years of Václav Havel's life in a personal portrait of the aging ex-president who always put the general interest above his own.

Instead of his dream retirement as a statesman, reading and going to the theatres, Václav Havel remains an active retired politician who travels to every continent to spread the values of democracy. The documentary is a multi-layered story about the passing of a great man who never lost his insight or sense of humour. At the end of his life, Havel reflects on his own legacy, but also on the general values of humanity and democracy in the twenty-first century. As he himself admits at the end, the ex-presidency is one of the most demanding jobs he has ever held.

Thursday 21 March. FAMU screening

15:00 - 16:15 George's Vision (dir. Marta Kovářová, 2023, 77´)

Marta, an artist, and her father, Jiří, a scientist, embark on a journey to save the world and to understand each other. The documentary is a humorous observation of a family dream, which does not always meet with public understanding.

Director Marta Kovářová has made a global home essay that is a portrait of her father Jiří Svoboda, a renowned physicist who comes up with a „simple“ plan to save the world - to unify the carbon pricing system. But because Jiri is only a suspect physicist, not a climate scientist or politician, his voice is not heard in the public sphere. Although Martha and George are touring international summits together, their efforts seem to have made no progress after a year and remain their private domestic revolution. While this fact exhausts Marta emotionally and she blames herself, Jiří maintains a phlegmatic approach not only to science but also to life.

Friday 22 March. FAMU screening

15:00 - 16:40 The Prison of History (dir. Jan Gogola Jr., Matěj Hrudička, 2023, 92´)

The main character of the film is a former prison in Uherské Hradiště. Many unspoken memories remain embedded in its walls. The documentary releases them through a series of excursions.

The Uherské Hradiště prison is one of the dark places of Czechoslovak history. During the Protectorate, it was used by the Gestapo. After the war, it was the site of people's trials and public executions. Later, people who were inconvenient to the communist regime were imprisoned and tortured there. Since 1960, the building has slowly fallen into disrepair. However, difficult memories remain etched into its walls. The directors of the film decided to revive the memory of the place through several situational meetings with representatives of different generations whose lives were affected by the prison. In addition to the period context and personal experiences, they are also interested in the sounds, colours, lights and shadows of the prison grounds.

Friday 22 March. FAMU screening

17:00 - 18:30 Notes from the Eremocene (dir. Viera Čákanyová, 2023, 78´)

Today's time can be described as the Eremocene, the age of loneliness. What gives us the feeling of existential isolation and how can we cope with it?

„This is an account of what happened to the species Homo sapiens on planet Earth, in the Solar System, in the Milky Way galaxy, approximately 13.8 billion years after the supposed origin of the universe.“ With these words begins the film, which is conceived as a message in a bottle that the artist sends to her virtual future self and to future generations. We live in a world that is developing disruptive technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence at a predatory pace. But at the same time, it faces the rise of undemocratic regimes and the increasingly obvious catastrophe of global climate change and biodiversity loss. This experimental film combines analogue and digitally manipulated footage to suggest the impact of these times on individual mental health and society as a whole.

For further screenings of the film (annotations and showtimes) from 5 March, visit https://www.jedensvet.cz/.

Learning outcomes

To introduce students to contemporary foreign documentary production through the One World Festival.

Prerequisites and other requirements

none.

Literature

https://www.jedensvet.cz/program

Evaluation methods and criteria

100% participation in Masterclass Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan and proof of participation in at least 3 screenings of One World Festival (tickets or signature on the attendance list at FAMU Projection 22-24 March, 2024).

Note

KDT FAMU module

Lecturer: Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan (supervised by Alice Růžičková and Lea Petříková).

Dates and venue. Masterclass by Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan and attendance of at least 3 screenings at the One World Festival (20 - 28 March 2024)

Attestation conditions: pro/1 - 100% attendance at Masterclass Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan + proof of attendance at 3 screenings (by purchased tickets or by signing the attendance list at Projection FAMU 20-22 March 2024)

Capacity: 50

Optional for: FAMU

Language of instruction: English and Czech

Further information

No schedule has been prepared for this course

The subject is a part of the following study plans