Nick Cunningham

Swedish-based Palestinian filmmaker Wafa Jamil spoke to Business Doc Europe after her emotional pitch for The Other Gaza, in which she articulates her cherished dream - to show her 8-year-old daughter the other Gaza, the fairyland that she left almost 30 years ago. “For me home is the essence of orange blossom and the taste of summer water melon, which became the symbol of Palestine,” she recalls.

Croatian director Filip Filković Philatz and German producer Tamara Babun (Wolfgang & Dolly) pitched their doc project K67, about the iconic work kiosks that populated much of the former Yugoslavia before the Balkans War. In the film Filković and the kiosk designer Saša Mächtig will go on a whistle stop tour to visit the locations where the objects still stand. “I think that we're going to be a lovely couple in the film, like the professor and his student,” the director told the Industry audience in Sarajevo.

“Jodari Meno presents a compelling investment opportunity by combining a universally relatable narrative of perseverance and self-discovery with visually stunning and emotionally resonant storytelling,” producer Cindy le Templier told BDE ahead of her September 15 presentation of debutant Jamal Al Khanji’s story of a passionate spearfisher and his relentless quest to capture the biggest ever dogtooth tuna.

The seventh AJB DOC opened September 13 with a screening of Where the Olive Trees Weep by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, about life under Israeli occupation. Over the coming days, the audience will have a chance to watch 23 docs presented across five programme sections: Competition, AJB Screening, Last Minute Cinema, SmartDoc, and Special Screening.

The Finnish Weird (F-Weird) programme of FFA, which runs 25-27 September, is described as “a playground for your wildest ideas and a party for your extravagant thoughts.” The two doc projects (out of an overall selection of twenty) are the Indian/Czech ‘Death. Karma. Moksha.’ by Roy Dipankar, and the Finnish ‘Postpartum – Are You Ready for the Challenge’ by Milla Puolakanaho.

In 2012, Georgia’s ruling ENM party ran a toothless election campaign – quite literally. In parts of the country voters were enticed into having all their rotten teeth removed, to be replaced with shiny new dentures after the election. The problem was that the ENM party lost, and the incoming Georgian Dream party saw no need to fulfil the promise. Director Luka Beradze chews over questions on his film, as posed by BDE.

Pauline Blanchet discusses her new doc project, which pitches September 14 at AJB DOC, about a 14-year old female wrestler defying traditional gender norms and ethnic barriers in her isolated Albanian-Muslim community. “Audiences worldwide will connect with Sadije’s struggle to forge her own path in a world that has already defined her role. Her story speaks to anyone who has faced pressure to conform to societal norms, especially during teenagehood,” Blanchet tells Business Doc Europe.

Belgian producer Frederik Nicolai discusses his new project, which pitches September 14 at AJB DOC, that focuses on Baron Arthur, the leader of a once wealthy and powerful Romani community at the border between Moldova and Ukraine, who faces a dilemma as his community seems to fall apart. “The emancipatory struggle raging in the Roma community today is a story that is universally relevant,” Nikolai tells BDE. “It can inspire women from other communities worldwide to dare to pursue their own dreams and ambitions, and fuel vigilance in more progressive societies.”

Georgia, November 2003. For three days the family of President Eduard Shevardnadze finds itself at the epicentre of the country’s pivotal Rose Revolution. Producer Sergey Yahontov outlines to Business Doc Europe why professionals and audiences alike should invest in the feature doc, directed by Shevardnadze’s grand-daughter Sophie. “This film is a deep emotional personal experience for our director. It’s a story of the 23-year-old Sophie documenting her beloved relatives in a critical situation,” says Yahontov ahead of his September 15 presentation.

Inside Gaza tells the highly pertinent and powerful story of “a war most international media have been banned from covering,” as told through the experiences of Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporters trapped in Gaza. “Our film brings the unique perspective of what happened in Gaza, seen through the eyes of professional witnesses working for an independent international news agency, dedicated to fact-based journalism,” producer Yann Ollivier tells Business Doc Europe.