Before the awards of the 7th AJB DOC FF were handed out September 17, director Edhem Fočo addressed the closing audience.
“I was hoping we would repeat last year’s success, but this edition surpassed all previous ones. Almost all the screenings sold out days in advance, the audience requested extra tickets for most of them, and we brought in extra chairs, not wanting to leave anyone without the opportunity to watch the films at our festival,” he said.
“From the beginning, our mission has been to bring high-quality, interesting and educational documentary films and give the audience impressive stories about ordinary people. And the audience recognized that,” Fočo added.
Awards for the Best Films
The AJB DOC Main Award went to Smiling Georgia by Luka Beradze, about the “false promises politicians make to retain power“ (in this case the promise of dentures).
“This film deals with the subject of justice in an artistic, cinematic and poetic way. Through the beauty of a toothless smile, the author tells a universal story about ordinary people, abandoned and forgotten by politicians who do not care about their troubles. That is happening in a world which considers healthcare a privilege for most people,” the jury said.
The international five-member jury comprised: Deborah London-Harrington, documentary filmmaker and Head of Production Management at Dogwoof; Namik Kabil, film director and writer; Mila Turajlić, documentary filmmaker; Francesco Montagner, documentary filmmaker, and Myriam Francois, journalist and documentary filmmaker.
The Al Jazeera Balkans Program Jury Award, deliberated over by Lejla Dedić, Sead Kreševljaković and Đani Hasečić, went to José Carlos Soares, Tanju Şahin and Aslıhan Eker Çakmak for their film Holy Redemption, “which uncovers Israel’s strategies to systematically steal or ‘seize’ private Palestinian land and displace Palestinians.“
“Without any pretension for artistic expression, and made more in the form of a journalistic investigative TV documentary, this film directly confronts us with the truth from the perspective of radical Israelis. It is revealing terrifying hatred and exposing perhaps the most important element in understanding the treacherous colonial policy or apartheid, and showing the real reasons behind the unspeakable crimes against the people of Palestine, happening right in front of the whole world,” the jury citation read.
The Audience Award will be announced over the coming days.
Over the five days of the Festival, the audience of the 7th AJB DOC saw 24 high-quality documentary films connected by a common theme of ‘Justice?’ which dealt with issues of (in)justice especially in line with current events.
In addition to film screenings, a three-day ‘Smartphone Documentary Film Production’ training session was organized in co-operation with the Al Jazeera Media Institute and with the support of Samsung as a part of the ‘Women Lead the Way towards Peace and Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina’ project. Faris Bajrić, a video journalist, and The Whickers’ Jane Mote led the course.
AJD Industry also hosted a panel discussion on ‘Violence against women.’ The event was supported by the project ‘Women Lead the Way to Peace and Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina’ and was carried out with the support of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) in partnership with the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was organized under the leadership of the UN resident co-ordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina and jointly implemented by UN Women, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Furthermore, Emre Baştuğ, director of TRT Balkan, and Melida Mustafić, a producer at the digital channel TRT Balkan, led a masterclass titled ‘Life Between Checkpoints’, presenting the audience with the challenges of living in the occupied West Bank.
The third edition of Al Jazeera Documentary Industry Days @ AJB DOC was held from September 14-16 “to contribute to the development and promotion of global documentary film production.“
A total of 29 projects were presented over the three days and competed for co-production and cash awards of more than €120,000, provided by Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, Al Jazeera Balkans, and other partners.
