AJB DOC festival opens with screening of 'Lost Warrior'

(Patria) - With an opening ceremony and the screening of the competitive film 'Lost Warrior', the first Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival - AJB DOC opened in Sarajevo on Friday evening.

Tarik Đođić, Director of Al Jazeera Balkans, stated on the occasion of the opening ceremony that he hopes the AJB DOC Documentary Film Festival will have a long tradition.

“I hope that tonight we will begin a long tradition of a documentary film festival in Sarajevo organized by Al Jazeera Balkans. As you know, documentary film, along with news, occupies a significant segment of our program. I am glad that from tonight and for the next four days, we will have truly great authors and great films. I hope this is the beginning of a long tradition,” said Đođić, as reported by the Al Jazeera Balkans portal.

He added that he believes this festival will be a good opportunity for authors and production companies to establish further cooperation.

Different from other festivals

Edhem Fočo, Director of the AJB DOC Film Festival, emphasized that the AJB DOC International Documentary Film Festival differs from other festivals in several aspects.

“We truly appreciate all other festivals in the region, and they are excellent, and we support them, and we are partners and we finance them. The first difference is in the format; the competitive part of the film is adapted for television format, which means it is around 52 to 55 minutes. Television stations can more easily acquire films. Many authors have adapted films for our format to make it easier for the market. That is the first thing that is different from others. I even think it is unique in Europe because there is no other documentary film festival with this format. The second thing is that this is truly a real international festival,” he stated.

Ahmed Mahfouz Nouh, Director of Al Jazeera Media Network, attended the opening of the AJB DOC Festival and congratulated his colleagues on their efforts in organizing the festival.

“Al Jazeera is an industry that cares about creating documentaries, films, various arts, but also about creating quality journalists and quality journalism. Through documentary film, we enter into human stories. This region is very important for the whole world; there are secrets of this region that we have not yet discovered, and we strive to discover them through documentary films,” he said.

Search for identity

The film 'Lost Warrior', a Danish production, follows the life story of a British Somali named Muhamed, who, after encountering Salafism in prison, joins the Al-Shabab group, and later leaves it.

One of the film's authors, Nasib Farah, said in an interview with Al Jazeera Balkans that the “film is also a story about immigrants growing up in European Union countries and their continuous search for identity. This is precisely the theme that successfully connects the film with the audience.”

As part of the Last Minute Cinema program, the film 'Unforgiven' will also be screened on Friday evening, which follows the story of prison guard Esad Landža after his release from prison.

Three programs, three awards

The festival is organized by the Al Jazeera Balkans television station, in cooperation with Al Jazeera Media Network and the Al Jazeera Media Institute from Doha.

The goal of the AJB DOC festival is to promote authors and documentary films that deal with social phenomena, focusing on universal human values: courage, truth, justice, tolerance, and cosmopolitanism.

The festival consists of a competitive and non-competitive selection of films, which will be screened at several locations.

The official competitive selection of the AJB DOC festival will feature 15 documentary films (Lost Warrior, Yellow People Will Come from the East and Drink Water from the Morava, Missing in Syria: The Case Against Assad, Where Are We Going?, Arkan's Legacy: Serbian Mafia, Grandson, I See Red People, Business in Russia, Fathers and Sons, Walking on a Wire, Two Worlds, On the Edge of Freedom, Children Hostages of the System, and At the End of Darkness) intended for television broadcast.

The non-competitive selection will showcase the best titles from European festivals, while three films have been selected for the accompanying program AJB Presents (Disappearance, All with Will, The Little Prince).

Three awards will be presented at the AJB DOC festival.

An international jury of five members (Ingrid Falck, Karin Hayes, Montaser Marai, Robert Zuber, and Zoran Galić) will select the best film in the festival's competitive selection and present the AJB Main Award.

A platform for ideas and new projects

All competitive films will also be in contention for the Al Jazeera Balkans program jury award, which presents the AJB Program Award.

All films screened at the festival are also in the running for the Audience Award.

The non-competitive selection of AJB DOC's Last Minute Cinema will feature five documentary films (Unforgiven, Unwanted Heritage, When the Pigs Come, The Beast is Still Alive, and Louder Than Guns), which have achieved notable success when screened at established European festivals.

The first edition of the AJB DOC festival, in addition to film screenings, includes Q&A sessions after screenings, meet-and-greets with authors, exhibitions, and other accompanying events that will create an environment for getting acquainted and exchanging experiences, and will serve as a platform for ideas and new projects.