4th AJB DOC Film Festival Opens

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - With the screening of the film Faith and Branko by director Catherine Harte, at the Kovači Multimedia Centre, the Fourth International Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) opened, which will last until September 14. The program also began showing at the Sarajevo cinema Cineplexx, as well as online.

After recalling the success of last year's AJB DOC edition, which was held entirely online due to the pandemic, and that the films available through the ajbdoc.ba platform were viewed more than 120,000 times, the director of the AJB DOC Film Festival, Edhem Fočo, addressed the attendees.

He announced a mini-concert by Adnan Zilić, who, accompanied by Ivana Đurić, Meho Radović, Edvin Hadžić, Adis Sirbubalo, and Dino Šukalo, performed music from the film Džemo by Lejla Kajić and Davorin Sekulić, which opened last year's Festival edition, as well as music he composed for other films.

“Music is an integral, sometimes crucial part of a documentary film. With music, you can convey many more emotions, the depth of the film, recognizability… That is why we decided that this year, especially because of the symbolism of the film opening the Festival, we would also have this musical part,” said Fočo.

The official opening of the Festival followed, and the honor of doing so fell to the director of Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, Ahmed Mahfouz, who congratulated the organizers on the fourth edition, emphasizing that it is no small feat in the situation we are in.

“We face challenges from all sides – both those caused by the pandemic and others happening around the world – from political unrest, riots, terrorism, diseases, polarization, etc. All of this is reflected in film, but it has given it new energy. I think this is just the beginning of a new renaissance of film, especially documentary,” said Mahfouz.

“During the Festival, we will have a major announcement about the launch of an industry that will, I hope, be a turning point for documentary film in the region,” he added.

After the opening, the film Faith and Branko was screened, an intimate documentary that follows the seven-year relationship of two musicians from different cultural backgrounds, followed by a discussion with the audience featuring British accordionist Faith Elliot and Roma violinist Branko Ristić, the film's protagonists who presented their music, for which they are loved worldwide.

The second film screened at the Festival opening was Radio Silence by Julijana Fanjul, which opened the non-competitive selection Last Minute Cinema. The screening took place at Cineplexx at 9 PM, and the film was also available to watch online.

In the coming days, the AJB DOC Film Festival audience can expect 21 more high-quality documentary films. A novelty of this year's Festival edition is the Smart Doc selection, which will feature films shot on mobile phones by authors who participated in the Festival's training last year.

Also, from September 11 to 13, in cooperation with the Al Jazeera Media Institute, the training “Documentary Film Production with a Smartphone” will be held, led by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Damir Šagolj.
We also remind you of the lectures for journalists by Al Jazeera reporter from Gaza, Safwat al-Kahlout, on the topic “Gaza: Past, Present, and Future,” which will be held on Sunday, September 12, at 4:00 PM at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Sarajevo. Due to pandemic conditions and limited participant numbers, prior registration at [email protected] is required, with the mandatory subject line “Gaza – Lecture.”

Three awards will be presented at the AJB DOC Film Festival. The international jury, consisting of award-winning film producer Jamel Dallali, screenwriter, director, and editor Una Gunjak, and DokuFest artistic director Veton Nurkollari, will select the best film in the Festival's competition selection and present the AJB DOC Main Award.

All competition films will also be in contention for the award from the Al Jazeera Balkans program jury, which presents the AJB Program Award. Furthermore, all films screened at the AJB DOC Film Festival will be in contention for the Audience Award.

This year's AJB DOC Film Festival is held under the patronage of BH Telecom, and the training in partnership with Samsung.