Prague, March 14 (CTK) – A Syrian Love Story, documentary directed by British Sean McAllister, has won the main award at the 18th One World International Human Rights Film Festival, held in Prague on March 7-16, Tereza Hronova, on behalf of the festival’s organisers, told CTK yesterday.
The winning film tells the story of a Syrian couple who decides to leave their homeland with their children to escape the persecution by the Bashar Assad’s regime.
The best director award goes to Chinese Liang Zhao for his documentary Behemoth, set in the Chinese mines.
The students’ jury, the jury of Vaclav Havel and the Czech Radio jury have also selected the best films.
All awards will be presented at the closing ceremony in the Lucerna cinema in Prague on March 16.
The One World festival, whose main theme was “looking for home” this year, offered 123 documentary films from 62 countries and more than 200 guests, including film-makers, protagonists of the screened documentarists as well as activists and organisers of other film festivals focused on human rights, Hronova said.
The festival attendance during the first week was 24,833, which was similar to last year. The morning screenings for schools will continue until March 17, Hronova added.
After Prague, the festival will tour other 32 Czech towns as well as Brussels.
The festival’s organisers were striving for the documentary films to help mitigate passions provoked by the migrant wave and enable viewers to empathise with the situation of the people who are losing, seeking or defending their home, Hronova said.
