Sarajevo: International Documentary Film Festival AJB DOC

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Change is the theme of the second AJB DOC festival, which will be held in Sarajevo from September 20 to 24 and will feature 23 documentary films in three programs: Competition, Last Minute Cinema, and AJB Screening.

"After the first AJB DOC Film Festival, which proved very successful, we are entering a phase where we need to become bigger and better on all levels. We were lucky, perhaps not by chance, that last year's winning film was nominated for an Oscar. This year, we will screen five films of Bosnian-Herzegovinian co-production, and we are very pleased that quality documentary films are still being made in our country. In terms of tension and interesting stories, documentary films today can compete with feature films, and they also have an educational aspect and raise awareness about a certain topic. I believe that documentary film has the power to change the world and consciousness," said Edhem Fočo, director of the AJB DOC Film Festival.

The festival organizers announced that authors from all over the world responded to the Second AJB DOC Film Festival, and more than 400 films from 21 countries were submitted to the festival database. The best films were selected: 12 for the competition, five feature films for the non-competition selection Last Minute Cinema, and six for the accompanying program AJB Screening.

The specificity of the AJB DOC Film Festival lies in the fact that the documentary films are prepared according to world standards for television broadcasting, meaning they have a limited duration according to television format.

An international jury of five members will select the best film in the competition selection of the Festival and award the "AJB Main Award", and all competition films will also be in contention for the award of the Al Jazeera Balkans program jury, which awards the "AJB Program Award". All films screened at the Festival are also in the running for the "Audience Award".

The members of the international jury are recognized and experienced world experts in the field of documentary expression: Ademir Kenović from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Thierry Detaille from Belgium, Victoria Bruce from the United States of America, Ivana Pauerova from the Czech Republic, and Adel Ksiksi (Al Jazeera Documentary Channel).

"Sarajevo is already becoming recognizable for its festivals, and we are pleased that AJB is also contributing to that," said AJB director Tarik Đođić to journalists in Sarajevo.

The Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival AJB DOC is an international documentary film festival organized by Al Jazeera Balkans, in cooperation with Al Jazeera Media Network and the Al Jazeera Media Institute from Doha.