Nick Cunningham

Ahead of the 5-day AJB DOC Film Festival kicking off September 10, director Edhem Fočo explains the distinct appeal of his Al Jazeera Balkans event and why the production and consumption of non-fiction is more important than ever. “Documentary filmmakers can try to reawaken empathy in people, by presenting different realities of different people.”

The event offers a wide range of industry activities accessible and available both on site in Belgrade and. 65+ industry professionals - sales agents, distributors, programmers, VOD platforms, TV broadcasters etc - from more than 30 countries will join the hybrid industry event, attending industry panels/talks, pitching sessions, one-to-one meetings and matchmaking/networking sessions.

This is not a review, rather an interview. Nevertheless, I am going to go out on a limb from the start to say that there is something masterly about Diana El Jeiroudi’s Republic of Silence, whether as a paean to love and union, or a chronicle of the Syrian conflict as experienced both from within and from without - as an exile living in Europe. The director explains her documentary to Business Doc Europe.

Selected for the IBF Europe – Distribution track, the French-Niger-German feature co-production directed by Aicha Macky will receive a grant of €30,000 for distribution in France, Niger, Switzerland, and Denmark. Also, final submissions date of 15 September for Docs for Sale.

The Beldocs IDFF (9-16 September Belgrade, Serbia) will comprise 100+ documentaries and VR/AR content. The fest will once again screen selected films at several open-air locations, as well as returning to indoor screening venues. The majority of films will also be available online through the beldocs.rs website. ‘Faith and Branko’ to open the festival.

Boganim’s film tells the story of the community of non-European Mizrahim Jews who settled in the newly formed State of Israel in the 1950s, and the discrimination they feel they have suffered across four generations. The documentary further tells of the Israeli Black Panthers, led by her father Charlie in the 1970s, who squared up to this perceived sense of injustice. Boganim explains more to Business Doc Europe.

Three minutes of pre-WW2 home footage, showing the Jewish inhabitants of the Polish town of Nasielsk, are analysed, re-analysed and then analysed again in Bianca Stigter’s extraordinary debut documentary, world-premiering in Venice. The film is produced by Family Affair Films and executive produced by Steve McQueen.

In 2019, during the ongoing Donbas conflict, French director Loup Bureau spent three months in trenches dug by Ukrainian soldiers fighting separatists supported by Russia. The director discusses his subsequent feature doc, screening Out of Competition, with Business Doc Europe.

It is one of those songs that has entered the global consciousness, part holy/part horny (to paraphrase a key character in the film) and owned by everyone. Both a virus and a modern prayer, soaring heavenward when sung by some, or rendered vulgar when used to gain popular acclaim (or indeed sell a Hollywood movie). Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine discuss Leonard Cohen and his extraordinary song with BDE.

The event celebrates its 10th anniversary in Helsinki and online 22-24 September 2021 with a showcase of 9 Finnish docs either in development or in production and 9 completed docs (plus a fiction programme). In total, 29% of the projects (across docs and fiction) are directorial feature debuts, and over 50% have been directed by women or non-binary people.