AJB DOC 24

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 award for the best film (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). The Al Jazeera Balkans Program Jury Award 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."

“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 deadline for films for the 7th Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival has been extended to midnight of June 3 2024, while project submissions for Industry Days (three categories: Main Pitch, Rough Cut, Balkan Stars) can be made up to and including June 15. AJB DOC Film Festival will take place in Sarajevo 13 to 17 September 2024. Industry Days runs September 14-16.

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.

Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) will examine the theme of ‘Justice?’ during its 7th edition, to be held 13-17 September 2024 in Sarajevo. “Art is tasked with dealing with issues of wider significance, sometimes painful, forbidden, ignored or marginalized, but too important to be quiet about. Our task is to give voice to those who have been denied it, and the festival theme of ‘Justice?’ speaks about and examines precisely that,” write AJB DOC organisers.

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.

The 5-member international jury who will select the Best Film in AJB DOC Competition comprises 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 7th AJB DOC FF will take place in Sarajevo from September 13-17.

Even at the age of nine, Iranian Melina has already learned to deal with disillusionment and broken promises - she sees her mother much less than is promised; her father uses Melina's passport, which is in his possession, to exercise power. With great patience, respect and attentiveness, the filmmaker has made a very personal and relatable story of a universal phenomenon: the child who, between two bickering parents, has to fend for themselves.

The seventh Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC), running September 13 to 17 in Sarajevo, will examine the question of ‘JUSTICE?’ and “bear witness to the violence against Palestinians and address the world's economic and political turbulences,” says Festival director Edhem Fočo. “We wanted to focus on the issue of Gaza and Palestine. It pains us that other film festivals have somewhat overlooked this topic, as if it were not the most important issue today."