10 documentaries to vie at Bosnian festival

By Vesna Besic and Sanela Crnovrsanin

SARAJEVO (AA) - The 3rd Al Jazeera Balkans International Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) will take place online between Sept. 11-15 due to novel coronavirus.

The festival, of which Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner, is preparing to gather movie-lovers and documentaries from different parts of the world on its official website AJB DOC (www.ajbdoc.ba).

Event director Edhem Foco told Anadolu Agency that this year's festival will cover many issues from Syria to Palestine, and from the Philippines to Mexico.

Of the 18 high production documentaries -- including 10 on competition category -- that will be available online at AJB DOC, six are the world, eight regional and four Bosnia and Herzegovina premieres, according to the event’s website.

Reminding that Al Jazeera Balkans is the most important documentary producer of the region, Foco said that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the documentary festival was a neglected subject.

Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo have very good documentary festivals, he explained, adding that realizing this deficiency led them to organize such festivals.

“This year we are dealing with topics that are usually silent and unpopular to talk about, that most people tend to turn the blind eye to, but that must be discussed for the sake of future generations,” the festival website cited Foco.

“We are also dealing with some topics from the past that are important for the present but also for the future, as well as those that make one's heart beat faster," he added.

- Free of charge viewing

Viewers will be able to watch the documentary they want for free of charge, without registration, he added.

Pointing out that the documentaries to be screened were selected from among 300 submissions, Foco said: “We reduced the number of films to be screened. Because when you include too many films at the festival, you can show the necessary attention neither to the film nor the film crew.”

The opening of the 3rd International Documentary Festival will be held with the screening of the movie “Dzemo,” he added.

Bosnian-made documentary focuses on the life of a 45-year-old man dealing with animal husbandry. Also, another film focusing on the life of Bosnian football manager Vahid Halilhodzic will be screened as part of the festival.

Three awards will be presented at the Festival. “The International jury of three members will select the best film in the Competition Programme and present the ‘AJB DOC Main Award’, as well as the award for the best film in the ‘AJB Screening selection’ with the same name,” according to a statement at the festival website.

“All films in the Competition Programme also enter the competition for the ‘Al Jazeera Balkans Program Award’ which is to be presented by the Al Jazeera Programme jury,” the statement added.

The festival’s “Audience Award” will not be presented this year due to the virtual setting of the event, the statement added.