Manaki Brothers 2024 - Festival website
The city of Bitola, in North Macedonia, hosts one of the most prestigious film festivals in the region, dedicated to the work of the Manaki brothers, true pioneers of the camera in Europe and the Balkans
Bitola, the second largest city in North Macedonia, celebrated the 45th anniversary of the unique International Film Camera Festival "Manaki Brothers" in September. The anniversary was marked with a novelty promotion on the "Walk of Fame", with 18 marble plaques bearing brass stars with the names of 18 cinematographers, winners of the lifetime achievement award "Golden Camera 300" at the festival. The stars are for the 18 winners that are still alive.
The first edition of the festival was held in Bitola in 1979, as an initiative of the Society of Filmmakers of Macedonia in the then federal state of Yugoslavia, honouring the rich photographic and cinematographic oeuvre of the Manaki brothers Janaki (1878-1954) and Milton (1880-1964) and the creativity of the people who operate the in the film industry.
Cinema pioneers
Janaki and Milton Manaki were born in the Vlach village of Avdela, near the town of Grevena, at that time in the Ottoman Empire, and now in the Republic of Greece. From the village they first moved to the nearby town of Ioannina, where Janaki was a teacher of calligraphy and drawing at the Romanian commercial high school, while Milton studied the art of photography.
In 1905 they both moved to Bitola, which was an important economic and cultural centre at that time. This period – from moving to Bitola until the beginning of the First World War – was very fruitful and probably the most significant period for their work, according to the monograph "40 years of ICFF Manaki Brothers", which in almost 300 pages tells about the life of the two cinematographers as well as the editions of the festival up to its publication.
They created photos and videos about all Balkan cultures travelling throughout the Ottoman Empire, but also in Europe.
According to the recollections of Milton Manaki, quoted in the monograph, in 1905 Janaki traveled to England where he bought a "Bioscope" camera from the store of the manufacturer "Charles Urban Trading Company" in London. The camera had the serial number 300. That is why the film camera festival bears the name of the Manaki brothers, and the festival awards bear the name "Camera 300".
With this camera, the Manaki brothers shot the first film in Southeast Europe, with their 114-year-old grandmother Despina in the lead role, in their birth-native village, where despite her age she worked as a weaver.
In 1935, Janaki went to Thessaloniki, Greece, where he stayed for the rest of his life, while Milton worked and died in Bitola, where his descendants still live.
Honour to those behind the camera
The current director of the Festival, Simeon Dameski, informed the local media about the idea of placing 18 plaques with stars.
"In Hollywood there are stars for people who have contributed to the film profession in various capacities, such as actors, directors, producers, but there is no city in the world where there are stars for cinematographers, cameramen. So now, with this new 'Walk of fame', the only such city in the world will be Bitola", said Simeon Dameski.
He said that "Manaki Brothers" is the oldest festival in the world where cinematographers are honored and that is why they decided to honour the people behind the cameras with this "Walk of Fame".
Of the 18 living winners of the Golden Camera 300 Lifetime Achievement Award, according to Dameski, 14 are over 80, so the organisation decided to act before the festival celebrates its half-century in 2029.
In 1991, after the Socialist Republic of Macedonia separated from the Yugoslav federation, "Manaki Brothers" became an international festival of world cinematographers, with feature films competing for the three main awards: the Golden, Silver and Bronze Camera 300.
"That's how Bitola became the Mecca of the world's best cinematographers, discovering many new talents who today are considered top artists in film photography and kinesthetics, decorated with awards at our festival, and at the same time crowned with the fame of Oscar winners who over the years walked the streets of Bitola, which they consider to be their artistic nest", says the official website of the festival.
Before he died, Milton Manaki handed over the entire film and photographic fund with several tens of thousands of photo and video units to the State Archive. The photographs are now kept in the Archive in Bitola, while the film opus is kept in the Cinematheque of the Republic of North Macedonia. The total length of the preserved films is 1600 metres on 35 mm flammable negative film strip and 800 metres on 35 mm flammable positive film strip.
This year's awards
This year, 12 films in the main selection for the "Camera 300" awards were broadcast at the festival. It is a tradition on the big stage at the Manaki Theatre in Bitola at the opening to award the "Golden Camera 300" Lifetime Achievement Award, which this year went to French cinematographer Bruno Dalbonnel, while the award for special contribution to world film art went to Jolanta Dilewska from Poland.
The festival was opened by the film "Partenope" directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Within the framework of the festival, since 2013, the "Big Star of the Macedonian Film" Award has been introduced, which is awarded by the Society of Film Workers of Macedonia and includes domestic cinematographers. This year, Dimitar Grbevski, a film and television editor, received it.
The first two stars on Bitola's "Walk of Fame", placed in front of the "Manaki" cinema, bear the names of Milton and Janaki Manaki. The path is located on "Shirok Sokak", the famous city promenade. The stars of the Manaki brothers were uncovered by Milton Manaki, the nephew of the cinematographer who bears his name, as well as mayor Toni Konjanovski.
A monument to Milton Manaki was erected in Bitola in 2013, while a landmark is also being planned for Janaki Manaki.
