Three new Slovak documentary films, all competing in the Slovakia and Czechia for Human Rights section, will premiere at the 26th edition of the One World International Film Festival which takes place from 21 to 26 October 2025 in Bratislava.
Open is a deep, personal probe into the partner relationship by director Diana Fabiánová, which does not shy away from the themes of infidelity and monogamy. With this film, Fabiánová returns to a feature-length documentary after 16 long years – her first film, The Moon Inside You, which dealt with menstruation in a broader socio-historical context, was a great international success, having been screened at many festivals, including Locarno and IDFA. Produced by Silvia Panáková from Dayhey, Open will have its international premiere next week at the Jihlava festival in the main competition Opus Bonum.
Andrea Kalinová’s feature debut, Replanted, follows life in the once famous spa town of Tskaltubo in Georgia. In the 1990s, after the war in Abkhazia, it was transformed into a large refugee camp, where the last inhabitants still live 30 years later. The film was produced by Monika Lošťáková, Simona Hrušovská, Veronika Zúbek Kocourková, and Zuzana Jankovičová from Super film.
Where the Stork Lands with Amália offers an anthropological look at the life of a family living in generational poverty in the middle of a Roma settlement in Eastern Slovakia. The Slovak-Hungarian debut of the directorial duo Tomáš Bačo and Sabina Pappová was produced by Natália Bobocká and Peter Magát for Seven Hills, Tomáš Bačo for Icams, and Bence Fliegauf for the Hungarian company Fraktál film.
The One World program includes several other Slovak films. Quest to Build Better Cities by directors Jakub Otčenáš and Igor Bubeník follows the transformation of Copenhagen from an industrial city to one of the best places to live. Teodor Vladár’s Ceasefire is the story of Nawras, a Jordanian-Palestinian queer artist living in Bratislava. Vladimíra Hradecká’s film Blind Spots returns to the anti-Roma pogrom that took place in 1928 in the village of Pobedim, while addressing the topic of ignoring Roma history. The short animated film How the Bear Composed a Song by Kristína Bajaníková is intended for young audiences, while Marek Šulík’s film Ms President will have special screenings at the day center Domec and the St. Vincent de Paul dormitory.
As part of the presentation of the Documentary Film Directing Studio of the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, nine student films will also be presented at the festival: Assassination (dir. Samuel Ostrovský), Aunties (dir. Barbora Remenárová), Bitch (dir. Jaroslava Jelchová), Confession (dir. Rebeka Bizubová), How to Listen to Fountains (dir. Eva Sajanová), Retuning (dir. Sára Prokopová), A Spectre Is Haunting Europe (dir. Robert Mihály), Underground Theater (dir. Dominika Tarinová), and V. I. Lenin Street (dir. Katarína Bojtošová).
The professional program includes a Climate Storytelling workshop on how storytelling in audiovisual media can respond to climate challenges and promote a sustainable future, as well as the fifth edition of the panel discussion Audiovision without Barriers, which this year will focus on (un)met accessibility standards in film distribution.
More information at: www.jedensvet.sk/en
