The seventh edition of the AJB DOC Film Festival, which took place from 13-17 September in Sarajevo, wrapped last night with an awards ceremony in the Bosnian Cultural Centre.

Georgian director Luka Beradze's Smiling Georgia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Luka Beradze
scheda film], which world-premiered at last year's Karlovy Vary, picked up the Main Award in the 11-strong competition from the jury comprising Deborah London-Harrington, documentary filmmaker and head of Production Management at Dogwoof; Namik Kabil, Bosnian film director and writer; Mila Turajlić, Serbian documentary filmmaker; Francesco Montagner, Italian documentary filmmaker; and Myriam Francois, British journalist and documentary filmmaker.

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The jury's statement reads: “This film deals with the subject of justice in an artistic, cinematic and poetic way. Through the beauty of a toothless smile, the author tells a universal story about ordinary people, abandoned and forgotten by politicians who do not care about their troubles. That is happening in a world which considers healthcare a privilege for most people.”

The Program Jury Award, decided on by AJB DOC programmers Leila Dedić, Sead Kreševljaković and Đani Hasečić, went to Holy Redemption, a production by TRT directed by José Carlos Soares, Tanju Şahin and Aslıhan Eker Çakmak. Amidst restrictions prohibiting recording, the film explores the world of radical Israeli settlers on Palestinian lands. Highlighting the Duma village attack through 22 days of interviews, it uncovers Israel's strategies to displace Palestinians.

“Without any pretension for artistic expression, and made more in the form of a journalistic, investigative TV documentary, this film directly confronts us with the truth from the perspective of radical Israelis. It reveals terrifying hatred and exposes perhaps the most important element in understanding the treacherous colonial policy or apartheid, and shows the real reasons behind the unspeakable crimes against the people of Palestine, happening right in front of the whole world,” said the programmers.

The winner of the Audience Award will be revealed in the coming days.