Sarajevo: Al Jazeera Balkans documentary fest kicks off

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - The Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival opened Friday in the Bosnian and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo.

Many participants from the Balkans and Europe took part in the opening ceremony of the international festival, held this year for the second time.

The festival was inaugurated with the screening of the documentary "For Sama" by Syrian director Waad Al Kateab and the British director Edward Watts.

Invoking emotional moments among the audience, the documentary depicted one woman's experiences in the northwestern Syrian town of Aleppo throughout the country's uprising.

The international film festival will take place between Sept. 20-24 in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo, with 23 documentary films set to be screened.

The festival was organized this year under the slogan "Change".

At the festival, which will host Palestinian director Rawan Damen this year, there will be three awards - the Main Award, the Program Award and the Audience Award.

For young talents, various workshops will also be held at the festival. The festival films will be screened at Cinema City in Sarajevo.

More than 400 documentary films from 21 different countries applied, with 12 to be selected for the competition section and 11 to be screened outside the competition section.

The festival was organized by Al Jazeera Balkans, in cooperation with Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN) and Al Jazeera Media Institute.

Anadolu Agency is the festival's Global Communication Partner.