AJB DOC prepares to kick off for the sixth time

01/09/2023 – The film festival dedicated to television documentaries and the second edition of its Industry Days will attract professionals to Sarajevo from September 8 to 12

The sixth edition of Al Jazeera Balkans International Documentary Festival (AJB DOC) will be held in Sarajevo from September 8 to 12 in three venues in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Bosnian Cultural Center, Cineplexx Sarajevo and Chamber Theater 55. The theme of this year’s edition is rights and their violation, and the struggle to maintain the fundamental freedoms of individuals and groups.

Among nearly 300 titles submitted, the programmers selected 24 films from 19 countries which will be screened in four sections: the Competition Program (dedicated to medium-length documentaries in TV format), AJB Screening (presenting the films which will soon be screened on television via Al Jazeera network), Last Minute Cinema (titles hand-picked from the festival circuit) and SmartDoc (those filmed by smartphone), with two additional special screenings. The full program is available on the festival website website.

In their race for the prize, the films in competition will be judged by the jury made up of filmmakers Vitali Manski, Bernadett Tuza-Ritter And Nermin Hamzagić as well as producers Vanja Jambrovic And Mohamed Elmongy (To see the news). The Programming Prize will also be won for the films in competition and will be awarded by the festival’s programming department. All titles, competitive and non-competitive, are eligible for the Audience Award.

“As for this year’s program, we have inspiring films from all over the world and powerful stories that will not leave our viewers indifferent. Perhaps audiences will find films with themes specific to our region the most interesting,” said Edhem Foco, director of the AJB DOC Film Festival. Chief programmer Lejla Dedić added: “When selecting the films, we were guided by Al Jazeera standards, focusing on the quality of the production, the strength of the themes and the filmmaker’s unique approach to storytelling to which viewers can tune in. As programmers, as well as the festival, we put the filmmakers and the audience first.

The traditional three-day smartphone documentary film production workshop will be organized by Faris Bajrovic, with participants from the ranks of young filmmakers from the former Yugoslavia. A panel entitled “Role of cinema and art in the culture of memory: Rwandan, Uighur and Bosnian perspectives” will also take place with speakers, including Suli Kourbanjournalist and filmmaker; Esther Mujawayo, sociologist, activist and founder of the Association of Widows of the Rwandan Genocide; And Nihad Kreševljakovićdirector of the Memory Module (MESS) program.

This year’s edition will also host the second Al Jazeera Documentary Industry Days, which will take place from September 9 to 11. Selected projects from the South East Europe, Caucasus and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) regions, which will be divided into three categories (Main Pitch, Works in Progress and Balkan Stars), will be in competition for co-production. prizes worth $70,000, while also being able to win partner rewards worth (in total) $20,000 and other valuable service prizes.