After the decision to cease broadcasting of Al Jazeera Balkans television was made, the organizers of the AJB DOC Film Festival informed the public that this year’s edition of the Festival was also canceled.
“The AJB DOC Film Festival was launched by Al Jazeera Balkans in cooperation with Al Jazeera Media Institute and Al Jazeera Documentary Channel in 2018.
“Born Great” as it was characterized by industry professionals at the first edition, has been held for seven consecutive years with the current themes Refocus, Change, Voyage, Challenge, Peace, Right(s), Justice?. The eighth edition of the festival was supposed to be held with the theme Resilience, but this is where the story ends. For now.
We regret to inform the public, our associates and our beloved audience that the 8th edition, which was supposed to be held from 12 to 16 September 2025 in Sarajevo, is canceled. The closure of the festival is a direct consequence of Al Jazeera Media Network’s decision to cease broadcasting the Al Jazeera Balkans channel, which is part of a broader strategy to strengthen its digital presence and expand to new media platforms.
The 4th Al Jazeera Documentary IndustryDays (AJD IndustryDays), which took place during the AJB DOC Film Festival for the past three years, will be held at a different time and location, which the organizers themselves will further inform the public about.
The festival has positioned itself as one of the most important platforms for documentary film intended for television broadcast in the Balkans and Europe, and a place for the highest quality documentary films with a wide range of topics that the audience happily welcomed and watched in cinemas in Sarajevo, and then in the Al Jazeera Balkans program.
Since its first edition, the Festival has screened top-notch and current television and feature-length documentaries, as well as short documentaries by young authors, many of whom got their first opportunity at AJB DOC. Trainings were organized for journalists and young authors who are involved in documentary production using smartphones, and they had the opportunity to learn from the world’s best professionals. Documentary films that were nominated for an Oscar were screened, which is sufficient evidence of the quality of the production and the topicality of the topics. The popularity of AJB DOC, which went beyond the Balkans and Europe, is sufficient evidence of the size and importance of the project.
A small and compact team participated in the organization of the festival, and cooperation was achieved with many top professionals from supporting industries. On behalf of the Organizer, we would like to thank all sponsors who recognized the importance of AJB DOC, whether they are official institutions and organizations, private companies and media sponsors and associates, volunteers and everyone who invested energy and knowledge in the realization of the AJB DOC Film Festival.
We extend a special and heartfelt thank you to the loyal audience. The Director of the Festival, Edhem Fočo, used to say that AJB DOC is not an elitist festival and it never was. We are grateful for the time our audience has given to the lovingly prepared program.
It remains our hope that the AJB DOC Film Festival will reopen its doors in the future, the Festival announced.
