The Opening of the One World Festival in Prague Crossroads
The One World festival was opened in Prague on 11 March 2009. As usual, the festival is held under the auspices of President Václav Havel. The 11th year of the event was officially opened, in cooperation with the VIZE 97 Foundation, in Prague Crossroads again.
The festival representatives presented the People in Need foundation’s Homo Homini Award there. This Award is designed for those who have significantly contributed to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solutions to political conflicts. The Award went to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, a prominent figure of the democratic movement and, together with him, symbolically, to all signatories of the Charter 2008, which embraces the heritage of Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77. Liu Xiaobo is one of the leading Chinese intellectuals who use dialogue and calm peaceful opposition to fight persecution by state authorities. He has been imprisoned for his activities several times. In December last year, Liu Xiaobo was detained and taken to an unknown place, where he has been held to date, without due trial or a charge brought against him.
The first projection, entitled Burma VJ, took place on the same day in the Lucerna and Světozor cinemas.