Third AJB DOC Opens with World Premiere of 'Džemo'

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The third AJB DOC Film Festival features 18 top-quality documentary films, which you can watch for free and without registration on online.ajbdoc.ba.

The third edition of the AJB DOC International Documentary Film Festival, organized by Al Jazeera Balkans television, in cooperation with Al Jazeera Media Network and the Al Jazeera Media Institute from Doha, which is being held online due to the epidemiological situation, opened tonight with an address by Ahmed Mahfouz, Director of Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, who spoke about the importance of this festival.

“We face a great challenge, as we are fighting for survival this year despite the coronavirus pandemic. This year's edition of the AJB DOC Festival is being held thanks to all our friends and you, our viewers and audience. Another successful edition of the festival awaits us this year,” said Mahfouz, emphasizing that AJB DOC was born as a great festival.

Tarik Đođić, Director of Al Jazeera Balkans, also addressed the audience, emphasizing the importance of maintaining continuity.

“For the sake of continuity, for the satisfaction and need of our viewers, we decided to hold this third festival as well, and our brave and dedicated team has selected films in difficult circumstances, which I am sure will maintain the level we had in previous years,” said Đođić.

Edhem Fočo, Director of the AJB DOC Film Festival, said that the coronavirus pandemic brought uncertainty, which is why they ultimately decided to hold the festival entirely online.

“I am certainly sorry about that, because a festival is about physical screenings, people meeting, communication between authors and the audience… We will miss all of that, and I hope we will return to it soon, but it turned out as it should be anyway,” he said.

“The advantage of the festival is that we can now reach a much larger audience, and these films deserve it. This year too, we have excellent films by local and regional authors, made in specific conditions, and they are spectacular, and can be watched from Australia to America. I think this will mark this festival, which will ultimately be very successful,” added Fočo.

The third AJB DOC Film Festival opened with the world premiere of the film Džemo, in which young authors Lejla Kajić and Davorin Sekulić tell the life story of a herdsman in love with running who pushes boundaries.
Forty-six-year-old Džemal Jašarević lives in the countryside and takes care of ten cows daily, thus ensuring a livelihood for himself and his family. His day begins and ends with running shoes, with which he runs more than 20 km daily. In this way, he maintains his fitness and prepares for city and mountain races where he regularly beats professional athletes and wins gold medals. Besides his appearance and behavior, what sets Džemo apart from the crowd is the fact that he does not use social media and does not appear in the media. Through the film, we also learn details of his difficult life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OsSbJRCqhQ&feature=emb_title  

The film, a co-production of the portal Klix.ba and Al Jazeera Balkans, will be screened as part of the AJB Prikazuje selection, and the audience will be able to watch it from Friday, September 11, at 7:30 PM until the end of the festival.

The second film to be screened on the first day of the festival is On the Frontline by German journalist and director Marc Wiese, which will be shown in the Competition selection. The film will be screened at 9:30 PM and will be available for viewing for the next two days. The film follows the long-standing struggle of Filipino journalist Maria Ressa and her team from the Rappler platform, who are fighting for the preservation of democracy and media freedom, and against President Rodrigo Duterte, who, under the guise of a “war on drugs,” has eliminated around 30,000 people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24fOTdfIqoU&feature=emb_title
Victims of the war, key politicians in hiding, and members of death squads provide insight into the real “war on drugs” waged by President Duterte.

After the films screened at the opening, the audience can expect 16 more excellent documentary works that focus on touching life stories of individuals and real people who drive necessary changes in the society we live in through their actions. The complete festival program can be found on the official festival website https://www.ajbdoc.ba/.