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| 13th Annual MACEDONIAN FILM FESTIVAL |
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| The festival will be held on October 20-21, 2018, at: Carlton Cinema Theatre - Toronto |
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MILCHO MANCHEVSKI
Milcho Manchevskis acclaimed Before the Rain (1994) is considered one of the greatest debut feature films in the history of cinema (Annette Insdorf) and one of the most important films of the decade (Ann Kibbey). The New York Times included it on its Best 1,000 Films Ever Made list. It won the Golden Lion in Venice, Independent Spirit, an Academy Award nomination and 30 other awards.
Manchevskis work which also includes the award-winning features Dust (2001), Shadows (2008), Mothers (2010), and the award-winning short forms The End of Time (2017), Thursday (2013), Macedonia Timeless (2009) Tennessee (1992) and 1.73 (1984), and an episode of HBOs The Wire (2002) stands out in world cinema for its unique way of playing with space, time and emotion (Keith Brown). Roger Ebert said, Work like this keeps me going. A reminder of the nobility that film can attain. His unique blend of experimentation, poetry, emotion and a demand for the active participation of the viewer in the construction of meaning are highly praised. (ConorMcGrady)
Manchevskis work has screened at more than three hundred festivals, and has been distributed in more than 50 countries (theatrically, TV, cable and video). He holds an honorary doctorate from VGIK in Moscow, Russia and is a member of the Directors Guild of America, the European Film Academy and the PEN Club. He has served on festival juries in Venice, Shanghai, Warsaw, Locarno, Vilnius, Pula, Munich, Rostov-on-Don, among others. His work is part of the curricula at numerous universities and is the subject of many essays and books.
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 BIKINI MOON
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Drama
Released: 2017
Running time: 64 minutes
Director: Milcho Manchevski
Screenplay: Milcho Manchevski, W.P. Rosenthal
Producers: Anja Wedell, Munire Armstrong
Leading roles: Condola Rashad, Sarah Goldberg, Will Janowitz
 Movie trailer
Official Film Website
  
Synopsis:
At a homeless drop-in centre in New York City, a documentary crew finds Bikini Moon Davis, looking for help and a place to stay. With wide, lively eyes and a broad smile, Bikini is provocative, bold, and dynamic and also clearly in a troubled mental state. Claiming she drove a forklift in the Iraq war and was trained as a carpenter just like Jesus, with tits shes been on and off the streets, while hoping to stabilize her life enough to get back her young daughter from a foster home.
Something about Bikini grabs the attention of volunteer social worker (and documentary producer) Kate Skyler, who is seen convincing the films director (and her live-in boyfriend), Trevor Hood, that they should make the extra effort to help Bikini get back on her feet. Its impossible for Trevor not to agree that Bikini is a fascinating subject, ignoring the ethical problem of documentarians getting too involved in their subjects lives.
This very modern, urban fairy tale set amidst a fractured ideal of family is presented as a documentary that unravels, reveals, and reimagines itself alongside its unpredictable subject. BIKINI MOONs film-within-a-film structure unpacks and examines the way we look at the world through media that demands to be seen as reality, while asking the uncomfortable questions about the often exploitative relationship between media and its subjects. Ultimately, documenting Bikinis life means seeing the world from her point of view without judgement, no matter how fantastic, frightening and ecstatic that view might be.
Reviews:
A brilliant auteur film. Positioned on the delicate line between fiction and documentary, Bikini Moon is a modern, urban fairy tale, with a fascinating narrative, imposing itself as one of the best films of 2017, with the marvelous Condola Rashad. ~Felipe Brida, Cinema na Web
This is the entirely fresh and original work of a master filmmaker ~The Movie Gourmet
If Bikini Moon were not such a decidedly independent and small movie, an Oscar nomination for best actress wouldnt be out of the question ~Cineuropa
Awards and Screenings:
Bikini Moon was the winner of the Directors' Week Special Jury Award at the Fantasporto International Film Festival of Portugal, a nominee for the Grand Jury Prize at the Nashville Film Festival, and has been screened at several festivals including the Sao Paolo Film Festival, the Belgrade Film Festival, Cinequest Film Festival in California and the Sofia International Film Festival in Bulgaria.
Manchevski on Bikini Moon:
"I'm trying to explore the loss of privacy to the media and the nature of truth as seen in the media today. When we watch a documentary, is it true? Is reality TV true? Or what if we just see a little snippet of something on YouTube how much is a matter of context? On the one hand, we may be getting more finicky about the truth in terms of asking for context; but on the other hand, we are more cavalier, because now people say we are living in post-truth and fake news has become ubiquitous. Still, all of this matters only when there is a real human story at the heart of it all.
BIKINI MOON is a film that is dominated by its rigorous documentary style. This is something Manchevski believes all viewers have a keen critical instinct for: Reality TV is a perfect example of how easy truth is to manipulate as are documentaries, for that matter. And in the last several years, we are all living inside our own mediated bubbles, we see people being immersed in their own various aspects of telling the truth. Every single one of us walks around with a camera in their pocket and can make what really happened accessible in seconds but we have less real truth, less wisdom.
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 BROTHER FOR A DAY
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Short, Drama, Family
Released: 2015
Running time: 12 minutes
Director: Stojan Vujicic
Screenplay: Eva Kamchevska
Producers: Ognen Antov
Leading roles: Toni Mihajlovski, Kamka Tocinovski
Facebook page
  
Synopsis:
A five-year-old girl, with busy and pre-occupied middle-class parents, befriends a Roma boy on the street.
A story of our city, our streets, our neighbourhood. And it can happen anywhere. A modern family of three, in a race against time and money, dont spend enough time with their 5-year-old daughter, Ana. They do not have the time or the nerves to explain real family values to her, so she gets what she wants, sometimes without reason. One day she meets a Roma boy on the street...
Awards and Screenings:
Official Selection: Children's Film Festival - Bangladesh, Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival, Delhi Shorts International Film Festival, Sweet As Festival
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THE WITNESS (a.k.a. Wait for Me)
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Feature - Action, Drama
Released: 2016
Running time: 113 minutes
Director: Mitko Panov
Screenplay: Mitko Panov, Wadyslaw Pasikowski, David Riker
Producers: Francine Lusser, Gerard Monier, Jean-Luc Ormieres, Mitko Panov
Leading roles: Bruno Ganz, Natasha Petrovic, Padraic Delaney
Facebook page
  
Synopsis:
Wait for Me aka The Witness is a political thriller/action drama about an enthusiastic junior officer from The Hague War Tribunal in pursuit of justice. The arrest of General Miro Pantic ends a decade-long manhunt that had frustrated his Western pursuers and left festering one of the bloodiest chapters in Europes recent history. He had been indicted by a War Crimes Tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity, but when an young envoy from The Hague (Padraic Delaney) goes looking for an internal witness Nikola Radin, alas The General (Bruno Ganz) - the problems begin. No one wants The General to testify against Pantic, whom they perceive as their national hero. The fierce manhunt in the Balkan mountains will give a life-changing lesson to the young envoy who will come to understand that there are many more shades to what he thought was a black-and-white picture.
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LJUBO STEFANOV and TAMARA KOTEVSKA
Ljubo Stefanov was born 1975 in Skopje. He has over 20 years of experience in development and realization of communication concepts (promotional, public awareness campaigns) and production of documentaries and videos generally devoted to projects related to environmental issues and human development. He has worked for clients such UN agencies, Euronatur, and Swisscontact. Previous films include The Noisy Neighbours (2006) and Balkan Lynx - Big Cat Standing Little Chance (2014). Upcoming work, again in partnership with Tamara Kotevska, is Honeyland, already a prizewinner in pre-production and supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The film is now in post-production.
Tamara Kotevska was born in 1993, in Prilep, Macedonia. As writer and director and while still a student, she won the Best Balkan Film international film award in the official competition of the Tirana International Documentary Film Festival with her graduation project, the documentary Studants (49 minutes), supported by Filmtrick and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts- Skopje. Lake of Apples, for which she was writer and co-producer in collaboration with Ljubo Stefanov, is her first professional work. Working again with Ljubo Stefanov, her upcoming film, Honeyland, has already gained extensive pre-production recognition, including Best Work in Progress, Sarajevo Film Festival.
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LAKE OF APPLES
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2017
Running time: 30 minutes
Director: Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska
Producer: Ljubo Stefanov, Apolo Media in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation
Movie trailer
  
Synopsis:
Filmed over the course of one year, this documentary follows the changing fortunes of beautiful Lake Prespa one of the oldest freshwater lakes on Earth, providing a habitat for over 2,000 species of plants and animals, many of them unique to this ancient ecosystem.
An elderly fisherman rows out across the lake to check on his fishing nets. Its the same trip hes made every morning for most of his life. But other things have changed. The famous pelicans and cormorants are not staying here in the same numbers any more. And the fishermans nets now only catch algae. The future for the lake and all the lives that depend on it are highly uncertain.
Zoran and Frosina, two scientists, set out to investigate the causes of the problem, meticulously sampling and analysing the water. As they put the pieces of the puzzle together, they uncover some of the deepest secrets of the lake and reveal some uncomfortable truths about the human causes of the pollution that has been destroying the lake.
With this discovery comes hope, however, as a major effort is now underway to address the problem.
With funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has helped reverse pollution in Lake Prespa. It took 15 years and 15 million USD but finally, after decades of deterioration, the state of Lake Prespa is improving said Louisa Vinton, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to Skopje, Louisa Vinton.
Introduction at Premiere:
http://www.undp.org/
Awards and Screenings:
This film was the winner at festivals around the world including Prix de l'Environnement, Festival International Nature, Namur Belgium, Best Screenplay and Best Ecology Film, Silafest, Serbia, Best Short Film, Albania Environmental Film Festival, and Perseus Award, T Film Festival, Brno, Czech Republic. It has been screened at at many environmental festivals around the world including in Geneva, Switzerland for World Water Day and in New York during the United Nations General Assembly Week.
Winner, Prix de l'Environnement, Festival International Nature, Namur Belgium
Winner, Best Screenplay and Best Ecology Film, Silafest, Veliko Gradiste, Serbia
Winner, Best Short Film, Albania Environmental Film Festival
Winner, Best Ecology Film, Green Montenegro International Film Fest
Winner, Perseus Award, T Film Festival, Brno, Czech Republic
Honourable Mention, Best Environmental Film category, Innsbruck Nature Film Festival
List of Screenings:
Mountainfilm International Festival, Graz, Austria
The Science Film Festival (Goethe Institute): screenings in Myanmar, The Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India.
Columbia University, New York: screening on the occasion of United Nations General Assembly Week
Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Matsalu, Estonia
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands/UNDP, Geneva, Switzerland for World Water Day 2017)
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NIKOLCE POPOVSKI
Nikolce Popovski is a film and television director. He has done several projects on film and television. His signature as director stands on two short documentaries (Komaja, Bale), three short fiction movies (All or nothing, Just before the end, The last church bells), several feature-length documentaries, one feature length fiction movie (Happy new 903), two documentary series, over 150 episodes of television series and various television broadcasts as well. At the moment, having recently finished The Last Church Bells, he is working on the post-production of a fictional series entitled as The Red Poet, which deals with the life of one of the most important Macedonian poets Kocho Racin. Nikolce Popovski graduated at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje, at the department of film and TV directing in 2006, in the class of Prof. Stole Popov. He began his professional engagement during his studies and has since then gained professional experience from several fictional, documentary and other projects for film and television.
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THE LAST CHURCH BELLS
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Short, Drama
Released: 2017
Running time: 13 minutes
Director: Nikolce Popovski
Screenplay: Nikolce Popovski
Producers: Goce Kralevski
Leading roles: Meto Jovanovski
Official Film Website
  
Synopsis:
The last remaining occupant of an old abandoned village uses a church bell to communicate with the last remaining occupant of a neighbouring village. One day, the old man is extremely disturbed by the fact that the bell from the other village is silent. He decides to go to the other village, where he finds his friend dead. He buries him and then returns to his everyday life. After a while, the old man is disturbed again when the usual silence is broken by the bell from the other village.
Filmed in the villages of Lubojno and Brajchino, Macedonia
Awards and Screenings:
The Last Church Bells was winner of several prizes including best short film at both the Montreal World Film Festival and the Saint Petersburg International Film Festival, and has been shown at more than a dozen film festivals around the world including Belgiums Leuven International Short Film Festival, Irelands Fastnet Film Festival in Schull, and Australias Macedonian Cinema Days in Sydney.
Winner, Best short film, Montreal World Film Festival, Montreal, Canada, 2017
Winner : Saint-Petersburg International film Festival, Saint-Petersburg, Russia 2018
Award for Best Cinematography Light for World Festival
2nd place, Short Fiction Competition, Yaroslavl, Russia 2018
List of Screenings:
International Short Film Festival in Drama, Drama, Greece 2017
Kinenova, Skopje, Macedonia 2017
Cinedays, Skopje, Macedonia 2017
Leuven international short film festival, Leuven, Belgium 2017
Sylhet Film Festival, Sylhet, Bangladesh 2018
Globe International Silent Film Festival, USA 2018
Fastnet Film Festival, Schull, Ireland, 2018
Skopje Film Festival, Skopje, Macedonia 2018
Balkan Film Food Festival, Pogradec, Albania 2018
Kraljevski filmski festival, Kraljevo, Serbia 2018
Macedonian Cinema Days, Sydney Australia 2018
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REQUIEM FOR MRS. J
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Feature - Drama
Released: 2015
Running time: 94 minutes
Director: Bojan Vuletic
Screenplay: Bojan Vuletic
Producer: Nenad Dukic, Pavlina Jeleva, Tomi Salkovski
Leading roles: Mirjana Karanovic, Danica Nedeljkovic, Jovana Gavrilovic
Movie trailer
Official Film Website
  
Synopsis:
Jelena has had enough of life. Her husband died a year ago, and she feels tired and lonely in spite of her two daughters and her mother-in-law who all share her flat. She has decided that, at the end of the week, on the anniversary of her husbands death, she will commit suicide. She has a pistol ready for the job. But beforehand, there are a number of things to sort out: she needs to return an armchair she borrowed from a neighbour and terminate her life insurance policy; she needs to get a mason to put her portrait photograph on her gravestone and renew her health insurance card. In order to do so, Jelena needs proof that she has been a salaried employee for the past twenty years. Gradually, this quiet, humble woman begins to realise that nothings simple in a country thats constantly swinging back and forth between torment and transition. The authorities are unable to cope, Jelenas former employers are now bankrupt and the remaining staff are just killing time. And the end of the week is drawing near.
Awards and Screenings:
Winner, Best Film, Jury Prize, and Milutin Colic Award - National Program, FEST International Film Festival, Belgrade
Winner, Statueta Sloboda prize for Best Director, SOFEST Film Festival 2017
Winner, FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film, Sofia International Film Festival
Nominee, Golden Barge Prize, Vukovar Film Festival
Winner, Golden Lily Prize for Best Film, Wiesbaden Go East Festival, Germany
Nominee, Politiken's Audience Award CPH PIX
Screenings at film festivals throughout Europe and beyond.
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SECRET INGREDIENT (Iscelitel)
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2017
Running time: 104 minutes
Director: Gjorce Stavreski
Screenplay: Gjorce Stavreski
Producer: Gjorce Stavreski, Konstantina Stavrianou, Irini Vougioukalou
Leading roles: Blagoj Veselinov, Anastas Tanovski, Aksel Mehmet
Movie trailer
Official Film Website
  
Synopsis:
Vele is an underpaid train mechanic who uses stolen marijuana to make a cake to relieve his fathers cancer pain. He suddenly finds himself cornered by the criminals looking for their drugs and by the nosy neighbours who want the recipe for this healing cake. This is a timely look at an issue many countries are facing and one Macedonians solution.
Awards and Accolades:
Secret Ingredient is the winner of many competitions at festivals around the world including those of Aubagne, Thessaloniki, Santa Barbara, Bergamo, Rome (FrancoFilm), and Sofia. It also was the official selection and prize nominee at many international film festivals, most recently, Cleveland International Film Festival. It was the first Macedonian film to be featured on HBO Go (Europe).
Winner, Best Feature Film, Aubagne Film Festival;
Winner, Audience Award for Best Film, Thessaloniki International Film Festival;
Winner, Best International Film, Santa Barbara International Film Festival;
Winner, Ubi Banca Prize for Best Film, Bergamo Film Meeting 2018;
Winner, Special Mention Award, FrancoFilm, Rome;
Winner, Special Mention Award, Balkan competition, Sofia Film Fest 2018;
Winner, Best Debut Film, LET'S CEE Film Festival 2018;
Featured--the first Macedonian film to be featured on HBO Go (Europe).
Pre-Production:
EAVE Scholarship Award, WEMW Pitching Forum, Trieste 2014;
Nominee, VFF Highlight Pitch Award, Berlinale Talent Project Market 2015;
Script Development Award, Macedonian Film Agency 2011;
Best Screenplay Award, Script Corner Workshop, Manaki Brothers Film Festival, Bitola 2013.
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THE CHILDREN WILL COME
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Short - Drama
Released: 2017
Running time: 19 minutes
Director: Ana Jakimska
Screenplay: Branko Kosteski
Producer: Marija Dimitrova, Dejan Krajcevski
Leading roles: Natasa Petrovikj, Shenka Kolozova
Movie trailer
  
Synopsis:
A young teacher, Velika, is sent to a remote village in the mountains to teach the children who live there. However, days pass by and the children never appear. Instead, the only living soul she meets there is an old lady, the school janitor. When the old lady dies, the young teacher is faced with the challenge of keeping herself alive.
Awards and Screenings:
Winner, best short film, Mequinenza International Film Festival, Spain
Winner, Best Debut Film, Tirana International Film Festival, Albania
Winner, Jury Award for Best Short Fiction Film, FerFilm Festival, Kosovo
Winner, Festival Prize , Best Cinematography, (Naum Doksevski), Fastnet Short Film Festival
Nominee, best short film, Shanghai Film Festival
Official Selection, film festivals in South Africa, Morocco, Italy, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo.
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TOUCH
(Macedonian title: )
Showtime: N/A
Genre: Short - Drama
Released: 2017
Running time: 12 minutes
Director: Stojan Vujicic
Screenplay: Stojan Vujicic
Producer: Ognen Antov
Leading roles: Dejan Lilic, Christian Power, Nesrin Tair
Facebook page
  
Synopsis:
Alek is a ten-year-old autistic child. During a family day at the park, Alek disappears. He follows a very tall man that only he can see. Alek walks towards a lake as if hypnotised. We hear his parents calling his name while he is only a step away from the water.
Awards and Screenings:
Touch has been screened at a dozen festivals worldwide including the Switzerland International Film Festival, the Near Nazareth Festival, Israel, the Asia South-East Short Film Festival, the Euregion Film Fest, Netherlands, and the Out of the Can Film Festival, Derby, U.K.
Festivals:
SIFF - Switzerland International Film Festival, Switzerland, 2017
Lamezia Film Fest, Italy, 2017
Cinedays - Festival of European Film, Macedonia, 2017
Near Nazareth Festival, Israel, 2017
Short and Sweet Film Festival, Utah USA, 2017
Asia South-East Short Film Festival, India, 2017 - Honourable mention award
AltFF Alternative Film Festival, Canada, 2017
Out of the can Film Festival, UK, 2017
Nottingham International Microfilm Festival, UK, 2017
Tianchana Fest, Mexico, 2018
Euregion Film Fest, Netherlands, 2018
Findecoin - Independent International Short Film festival "The Day is short" Venezuela, 2018
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