The fifth AJB Doc Film Festival commences September 9 with a programme of 25 docs across four themed sections. These include an International Competition that includes a selection of major documentaries produced and presented internationally over the past 12 months, such as the 2022 Sundance winner A House Made of Splinters by Simon Lereng Wilmont, the Belgian A Parked Life by Peter Triest and Susanne Regina Meures’ modern tale of online influence, Girl Gang.
All films in the Competition Programme will compete for the AJB Program Award of the Al Jazeera Balkans program jury. Furthermore, all films shown at the AJB DOC Film Festival enter the competition for the Audience Award. These include films selected for Last Minute Cinema, AJB Screening and SMART Doc.
Industry Days
As significantly, this year sees the introduction of Industry Days, created in association with the Al Jazeera Documentary channel with a goal “to support the development of production of documentary films from across the world, including international and regional productions.” The program will take place September 10-12 and offers up 34 new projects within three pitch categories, Main Pitch, Work in Progress and Balkan Stars. Co-production awards worth $60,000+ are up for grabs.
Over the course of Industry Days, projects from Southeast Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will be presented, and participants will have the opportunity to connect with numerous leading broadcasters, financiers, distributors, film festivals and funds.
“What is distinctive is that we, as two channels Al Jazeera Balkans and Al Jazeera Documentary channel, will give out direct co-production awards total $80k,” comments Industry Days producer Nejra Kozarić. “What we intend is to bring three regions together (SEE, MENA & Caucasus). We want filmmakers, independent producers, projects, decision makers, experts and sales agents to meet here at AJB DOC to find potential partners. We want to serve as a bridge between filmmakers and key players in the region and worldwide. Topic relevance is very important for us as at Al Jazeera Media Network. We want to give voice to human and political stories that matter and we very much appreciate original storytelling with cinematic approach and of course the production skills. We also wish to meet as many projects as possible with international potential.”
Kozarić adds that Industry Days was very much a ground-up initiative. “Demand was certainly there, especially from South East Europe authors to get in touch with European and world broadcasters and decision makers from around the world. It is a platform that intends to support the expansion of documentaries worldwide, including international co-productions, and it will aim to match key decision-makers with interesting and valuable projects.”
“Even though this was our first call for projects, we have received over 180 projects in development from 54 countries,” Kozarić continues. “It will provide SEE, Caucasus and MENA documentary filmmakers the opportunity to network with decision-makers and leading professionals from both the regional and international documentary and TV industries to help secure funding for documentary production, supporting broadcast, distribution, screenings and sales worldwide. Our Industry Days will consist of a variety of pitching sessions, panel discussions, round table meetings, hands-on workshops and networking activities, followed by simple enjoyment of the vibrant city of Sarajevo.”
Ten projects will be presented in the Main Pitch category
- Blueberry Dreams by Elene Mikaberidze. Production: Parachute Films. Production country: Georgia. Co-production Countries: France, Belgium. Production stage: In production
- Theft of Fire by Amer Shomali. Production: Rashid Abdelhamid – Made in Palestine Project. Production Country: Palestine. Co-production Country: Canada. Production stage: Development
- Harvest Moon by Rama Ayasra. Production: Independent producers. Production country: Jordan. Production stage: Late production
- Flowers of Ukraine by Adelina Borets. Production: Gogol Film, Koskino. Production country: Poland. Co-production country: Ukraine. Production stage: In production
- Last Letters from my Grandma by Olga Lucovnicova. Production: While We’re Here. Production country: Belgium. Co-production countries: Germany, Netherlands, Moldova. Production stage: Development
- Him, Too! By Elahe Esmaili. Production: Jumping Ibex. Production country: Iran. Co-production country: UK. Production stage: Late production
- The Last Nomads by Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić. Production: Wake Up Films. Production country: Serbia, France. Co-production countries: Montenegro, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia. Production stage: Development
- Cinema Under Siege by Srđan Šarenac. Production: Novi Film. Production country: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Co-production country: Croatia, Serbia. Production stage: Development
- The Owl’s Luck by Omar A R
ashed. Production: Flink Studios. Production country: Egypt. Co-production country: United States. Production stage: Pre-production - Sorry To Be There! by Aissa Djouamaa. Production: Nouvelle Vague Algérienne. Production country: Algeria. Co-production country: Belgium, USA Production stage: Development
- Little Red Riding Hood by Parvana Rahimova. Production: Cinex Productions. Production country: Azerbaijan. Production stage: Development (not competing for awards)
- A Woman’s Path by Marjan Khosravi. Production: Seven Springs Pictures & Lukimedia. Production country: Iran. Co-production country: Spain. Production stage: In production (not competing for awards)
Eleven projects will be presented during the Work-in-Progress program.
- Abastumani by Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt. Production: OpyoDoc. Production country: Georgia. Production stage: Post-production
- Do You Love Me? By Lana Daher. Production: Wood Water Films. Production country: Lebanon. Co-production country: Germany. Production stage: In production
- Shaman vs Putin by Beata Bubenec, Mikhail Bashkirov. Production: Les Steppes Productions. Production country: France. Co-production country: USA. Production stage: Post-production
- Friday at the Window by Atieh Zare. Production: Associate Directors. Production countries: Iran, Belgium. Co-production country: Norway. Production stage: Post-production
- Land of Sar by Petra Seliškar. Production: Cinephage, Petra Pan Film. Production country: North Macedonia. Co-production countries: France, Slovenia. Production stage: Late production
- Proud, Suspended and Obstinate by Mohamed Akram Nemmassi. Production: Bingo Films. Production country: Morocco. Production stage: Development
- Company of Steel by Yuliia Hontaruk. Production: Babylon`13, VFS Films. Production country: Ukraine. Co-production country: Latvia. Production stage: Postproduction
- Flotation by Eluned Zoë Aiano, Alesandra Tatić. Production: Wild Pear Arts, Servia Film. Production country: Serbia. Production stage: Post-production
- Mother and Child by Eliane Raheb, Cynthia Choucair. Production: Road2Films. Production country: Lebanon. Production stage: Development
- Women of My Life by Zahraa Ghandour. Production: KARADA Films. Production country: Iraq. Co-production countries: Switzerland, Sweden. Production stage: Development
- Let’s Play Soldiers by Mariam Al-Dhubhani, Mohammed Al-Jaberi. Production: MEEM SQUARE FILMS LLC. Production country: USA. Production stage: In production (not competing for awards)
The final day of the Industry Days will feature Balkan Stars, a platform where seven projects will be presented.
- Jablan by Jelena Bosanac, Tanja Brzaković. Production: Public film. Production country: Serbia. Production stage: In production
- Marathon Runner by Aleksandar Reljić. Production: Core Dox. Production country: Serbia. Production stage: Pre-production
- Assassination of Hakija Turajlić by Mirza Pašić. Production: MPSC Production. Production country: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Production stage: Pre-production
- Hvar League by Emina Kujundžić. Production: Studio Switch. Production country: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Production stage: Development
- The Sun Doesn’t Shine On All Sides by Gligor Kondovski. Production: Revolution Production. Production country: North Macedonia. Co-production country: Australia. Production stage: Post-production
- The Teacher, Piano and Mountain by Valentina Delić. Production: Document. Production country: Serbia. Production stage: Pre-production
- Woman of God by Maja Prettner, Iza Strehar, Boštjan Virc. Production: Studio Virc. Production country: Slovenia. Production stage: Post-production
Along with screenings of AJB DOC films, a masterclass by Galeb Nikačević, journalist and creator of the popular Agelast podcast, will be held under the auspices of the Info Center of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In addition, a three-day training session ‘Production of Documentary Films with a Smartphone’ will be held in co-operation with the Al Jazeera Media Institute and Samsung. “We invited twenty participants from the entire region covered by Al Jazeera Balkans to teach them how to produce and make documentaries with a smartphone, as well as how to find the right stories”, says event producer Kozarić.
On the overall Festival and Industry presentation in 2022, AJB DOC Film Festival director Edhem Fočo comments: “We are glad that our film screenings have always been well attended, because the authors recognize that. Most of the authors whose films are shown are actually present at our festival, and the interesting Q&A (conversation between the audience and the authors) often lasts longer than the film itself. I think that this year we have a great selection and I hope that the audience will again recognize that.”
“It is exactly peace and faith in a better tomorrow that connect all participants of documentary films that will be shown at the Fifth AJB DOC Film Festival, which brought about the theme of this year’s edition – the white dove, a universal symbol of peace, whose take-off and upward movement presented in the form of an artwork is placed so that it symbolically forms number five with its body and movement,” festival organisers add.
