Celebrating 25 Years of Thought-Provoking Documentaries on Global Issues

Since 1989, the One World Film Festival has been bringing together audiences, organizations and filmmakers to view documentaries and raise awareness about social justice, human rights and environmental issues. OpenConcept was supporting this milestone by sponsoring this year's Festival, and helping it continue raising awareness on global issues.
The 2014 festival featured five thought-provoking documentaries, engaging discussions, and a festival fair over three evenings (Sept. 25-27).
 

2014 One World Film Festival Jury Awards

The jury of the 25th One World Film Festival has selected the striking and powerful VIRUNGA (dir. Orlando von Einsiedel, United Kingdom, 2014) for Best of the Festival.
VIRUNGA is directed and presented with great care, effectively addressing a pressing issue from multiple perspectives and interests. Its greatest strength lies in its sprawling yet intimate depictions of the players in conflict over Virunga National Park, revealing both problems and solutions to connect audiences with many possible methods of advocacy. VIRUNGA is clearly made with courage and intense passion, and the fact that the film's release has significantly contributed to its cause only reaffirms its importance to the field of documentary activism.Special Mention is given to SONG FROM THE FOREST (dir. Michael Obert, Germany, 2013), for its poetic and insightful depiction of the ongoing struggle to connect and unravel questions of colonization, community, desire, and humanity.
The 2014 jury was Jerrett Zaroski, Programmer at the Canadian Film Institute in Ottawa, Vera Wabegijig, an Anishnaabe writer, blogger, and media artist, and producer, filmmaker, and media artist Dan Gainsford.