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After years as a dissident, Jiri Dienstbier's life changed overnight during the 1989 Velvet Revolution when he became the foreign minister of Czechoslovakia. He was later appointed United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in the former Yugoslavia, and was opposed to the NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosovo. When I spoke to Jiri Dienstbier at his Prague flat, our conversation was wide-ranging.

In this week's One on One join Jan Velinger in conversation with acclaimed Czech filmmaker Petr Zelenka, the director of such popular films as The Year of the Devil and the highly original The Buttoners. Among the topics discussed in the interview: Petr Zelenka's approach to filmmaking as well as his latest project, The Best Films of Our Lives.

Cyril Svoboda, who is the leader of the Christian Democrats, was appointed Czech foreign minister after elections to the Chamber of Deputies in June. The director of Radio Prague, Miroslav Krupicka, recently interviewed Mr Svoboda; with world opinion mixed to say the least on a possible United States-led attack on Iraq, Mr Krupicka asked the Foreign Minister whether the Czech Republic would support such an attack.

Rob Cameron's guest on this week's One on One is Ramiro Cibrian, head of the European Commission delegation in the Czech Republic and EU ambassador to Prague. Their conversation takes in the miracle of mastering Czech in three years, where an ambassador goes to get away from the stresses and strains of work, and getting used to the meat and dumplings of Central Europe after the tapas and paella of Spain. Rob began by asking Ambassador Cibrian about the pros and cons of being one of the country's most senior diplomats.

Imagine you turn up for work and you find that your employer has decided to sack you without giving a reason, or your landlord suddenly gives you a week's notice to move out of your apartment. If you live in the United Kingdom or in some Commonwealth countries, it's quite likely that in situations like this you'll turn to your local Citizens' Advice Bureau or CAB for advice. In many countries there are CABs in town centres, offering free and independent advice to the public on just about any problem under the sun. Thanks to Petra Francova, the

Jan Velinger's guest in this week's One on One is Iva Pekarkova, Czech journalist and renowned author of acclaimed novels that include Truck Stop Rainbows and The World is Round, both set in former communist Czechoslovakia. Iva's 3rd book Gimme the Money, was inspired by her extensive and incredible experience as a taxi-driver in New York City. Her latest books include The Scarz and Thirty-Two Khwan. Some of the topics discussed in the One on One interview: Iva's beginnings as a writer, her reflections on writing and character, and her thoughts

When the Nazi ruler of occupied Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, was assassinated in May 1942, there was a wave of brutal reprisals. Many Czechs were rounded up and shot and the entire village of Lidice was wiped off the map. But one of the Nazi crimes committed in the wake of the assassination is less well known.

In many ways there's nothing unusual about my guest in this week's programme - he's a Czech who grew up in a small town in North Moravia, did his military service like most other lads his age, stayed on in the army for a few years, and now runs a small organisation from a modest office in Prague. But this polite, well-dressed man immediately stands out from the rest of the Czech population for one simple reason - he's black. When Obonete Ubam, chairman of the League of Ethnic Minorities, came into the studio this week, I began by asking him what

What does the British Council do in the Czech Republic, and why does it do it? Those are a couple of the questions discussed by Ian Willoughby and the British Council's deputy director, Elizabeth White, in this week's One on One. Other topics include security after September 11 and how the British Council has been doing its bit for Czech culture since August's floods.

Petr Prokopik is a student of ethnology at Charles University in Prague, currently enrolled in the PhD programme. Last spring he earned top honours for a Master's thesis titled "The Development of Hyper-masculinity", which studied social-cultural patterns within the gay community in Prague, in particular researching coded and stylised behaviour used by homosexuals at gay clubs. It's an area of behaviour that had received little serious academic attention in the Czech Republic before now. Among the topics discussed: how individuals come to terms