Life in Georgia’s occupied territories
Human rights film festival shines spotlight on border villages

A new documentary film about the aftermath of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia will make its international premiere at a leading European human rights-themed film festival next week.

The One World Film Festival in Prague, Czech Republic will screen Toma Chagelishvili's feature-length documentary I Didn't Cross the Border: The Border Crossed Me for the first time to cinema audiences.

The co-production between Germany and Georgia will premiere on March 11 at the Kino Svetozor Arthouse cinema in the Czech capital, with further screenings planned for March 13 and 16.

Chagelishvili's film will join 132 other documentaries from around the world that focus on human rights and their violations.

I Didn't Cross the Border: The Border Crossed Me will compete for six prizes in the festival including Best Film Award and Best Director.

See the trailer for director Toma Chagelishvili's new documentary film I Didn't Cross the Border: The Border Crossed Me below:

Chagelishvili's latest work tells the story of residents of the villages neighbouring the shifting Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between breakaway Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and the rest of Georgia.

The villages near the ABL witnessed the periodic illegal detention of Georgian citizens by occupying Russian military troops, who were later charged with "illegally crossing the state border”.

This documentary traces how the locals come to terms with the situation. They avoid the Russian patrols and climb through the fence to help during the harvest or to trade goods. Instead of eating at home, they have picnics on the border. They want to live as before, but it is unclear whether that will ever happen," read the preview of the film.

The One World Film Festival will feature 14 categories for the 133 participating productions, including Main Competition, The Power of the Media and Doc for Kids.

Meanwhile after the film screened in Prague, I Didn't Cross the Border: The Border Crossed Me will appear in other international film festivals.

Looking ahead the film will also be made into a television program and broadcast on European television channels.

The One World Film Festival was established in 1999, with organisers labelling it as "the most important festival of its kind in the world".

In 2007 the festival won a special mention from UNESCO for its contribution to human rights education.

One World Film Festival will run from March 7-16 in Prague.

Learn more about the films and the awards up for grabs on the One World Film Festival’s official website here.