The ONE WORLD '99 International Human Rights Film Festival will be held in Prague from 26-31 May 1999, with highlights from the festival to be re-screened from 1-11 June. This is the first event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, a meeting ground for the presentation and discussion of films that explore human rights in all their political, social, economic, ethnic and gender dimensions. ONE WORLD '99 is organized by the People in Need Foundation, a Czech humanitarian aid and human rights agency.

This year's festival will screen more than 40 documentary and feature films in the following categories:

• Human Rights Watch
• Voices of Women
• Dictators
• Africa
• Latin America
• Focus on   (Belarus, Bosnia, Burma, Central Asia, China, Cuba, East Timor, Tibet)
• Czech Documentary Film

ONE WORLD '99 is staged in cooperation with the Human Rights Watch film festival in New York and Amnesty International film festival in Amsterdam. Through this partnership, ONE WORLD '99 offers the most incisive and highest quality films on human rights issues from all around the world. Screenings will be held at five venues in Prague - the Evald, MAT and Aero cinemas, the two screening halls of the City Library, and the French Institute. The official opening will take place at the French Institute on the evening of 26 May.

ONE WORLD '99 is affiliated with RESPE©T '99, a music festival organized by the Respekt weekly journal to be held in Prague from 18-26 June 1999. The long-term goal of the organizers of both events is use the power of film and music to promote public awareness about human rights and foster support for the basic principles of open society.

ONE WORLD ‘99 seeks to communicate the experience of people who are victimized and endangered by war, state repression, discrimination and intolerance. By doing so, it seeks to educate young people about the values on which pluralistic democracy is built. The films presented are everything but conventional.. They explore universal ideas through the true stories of individuals, some tragic, some humorous, which portray courage in the struggle for human dignity in every corner of the world - from Chile to Haiti, South Africa to Egypt, Belarus to Bosnia, East Timor to Tibet - with authentic artistry.

"From its beginning, the Foundation has maintained that it is not only important to help people in need, but also to act as witnesses and present testimony about those in need. We in the Foundation have repeatedly met people fleeing from destroyed villages, visited families of political prisoners, and helped individuals trying to stand up to the pressure of authoritarian regimes. Out of war, resistance against dictatorship and the fight for human dignity come stories not only about human suffering, but also about courage, sacrifice, hope and even love. We never asked ourselves why we travel to war zones and countries under dictatorship - it just went without saying, because helping others in these circumstances was inspiring and enriching for ourselves.

We were never alone in these situations. Friends with a camera were always there as well, and few things can give such telling evidence or information as film. This is the reason we decided to organize the film festival. It is simply another attempt to answer to the public and to our supporters the question WHY we do what we do, and WHY we ask everyone to join us so often.

The PEOPLE IN NEED on the other side of the lens may seem distant, but in reality they are people just like us, in ONE common WORLD."

Igor Blazević