The first-ever edition of AJD Industry Days @ AJB DOC Film Festival has wrapped successfully. It took place from 10-12 September as an integral part of the festival, with the pitching forum dominating the event. It is intended to support the expansion of documentaries worldwide, focusing particularly on international co-productions, and aims to match key decision makers with interesting and valuable projects. Apart from the pitching sessions moderated by Rudy Buttignol (see the interview) and Rada Šešić, the head of the Sarajevo Film Festival documentary programme, followed by round-table meetings where the filmmakers and their producers talked to decision makers hailing from various different backgrounds in the trade (senior producers, TV executives, festival industry event directors, national film centre employees, and so on), the event offered two panel discussions (“Meet the Al Jazeera Media Network” and “Women Behind the Camera”, which was supported by the Council of Europe) as well as the Progress Film Showcase.

The top award in the Main Pitch category went to Srđan Šarenac and his project Cinema Under Siege, about the film festival that took place in Sarajevo during the siege of the city in 1993. On top of the $25,000 Co-Production Award presented by the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, the project also received the Progress Film Award, consisting of €3,000 worth of video archive material, and an invitation from MIA DOC to pitch the project at the 2022 edition of the gathering. In the same category, Olga Lucovnicova’s Last Letters from My Grandma scooped the $8,000 Co-Production Award presented by Al Jazeera Balkans.

The Co-Production Award ($15,000 presented by the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel) in the Work in Progress category went to Atieh Zare’s Friday at the Window, while the $7,000 Co-Production Award presented by Al Jazeera Balkans was bestowed upon Petra Seliškar’s project Land of Šar. Mariam Chachia and Nik Voigt’s Abastumani picked up two awards in the category: Current Time TV’s €1,000 cash prize and East Doc Platform’s East Silver Caravan Award.

Finally, Maja Prettner’s Woman of God triumphed in the Balkan Stars category, winning the Co-Production Award valued at $10,000. The second prize, of $5,000, went to Emina Kujundžić’s Hvar League, focusing on football and off-season island life, which also won Beldocs’ invitation to pitch the project there in 2023. Mirza Pašić’s Assassination of Hakija Turajlić won the BH Telecom Award of €2,500 and access to the television archive of RTV BH.

Here is the full list of award-winning projects:

Main Pitch $25,000 Co-Production Award Presented by Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
Cinema Under Siege – Srđan Šarenac (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia)

Main Pitch $8,000 Co-Production Award Presented by Al Jazeera Balkans
Last Letters from My Grandma – Olga Lucovincova (Belgium/Netherlands/Germany/Moldova)

Work in Progress $15,000 Co-Production Award Presented by Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
Friday at the Window – Atieh Zare (Iran/Belgium/Norway)

Work in Progress $7,000 Co-Production Award Presented by Al Jazeera Balkans
Land of Šar – Petra Seliškar (North Macedonia/Slovenia/France)

Balkan Stars $10,000 Co-Production Award Presented by Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
Woman of God – Maja Prettner (Slovenia)

Balkan Stars $5,000 Co-Production Award Presented by Al Jazeera Balkans
Hvar League – Emina Kujundžić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

BH Telecom Award of €2,500
Assassination of Hakija Turajlić – Mirza Pašić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Current Time TV Award of €1,000
Abastumani – Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt (Georgia)

Sunny Side of the Doc Award – Invitation to Pitch in 2023
Women of My Life – Zahraa Ghandour (Iraq/Switzerland/Sweden)

Cannes Doc Award
Do You Love Me? - Lana Daher (Lebanon/Germany)
Let’s Play Soldiers – Mariam Al-Dhubhani, Mohammed Al-Jaberi (USA)

Beldocs Award – Invitation to Pitch in 2023
Hvar League – Emina Kujundžić

MIA DOC – Invitation to Pitch in 2022
Cinema Under Siege – Srđan Šarenac

East Doc Platform – East Silver Caravan Award
Abastumani – Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt

Progress Film Award - €3,000 Video Archive
Cinema Under Siege – Srđan Šarenac

RTV BH Award – Television Archive
Assassination of Hakija Turajlić – Mirza Pašić