Manaki Brothers & CamerImage

Lensers in focus at two fests

By NICK HOLDSWORTH

Manaki Brothers

When: Sept. 27-Oct. 4

Where: Skopje and Bitola, Macedonia

Web: manaki.com.mk

CamerImage

When: Nov. 29-Dec. 6

Where: Lodz, Poland

Web: pluscamerimage.pl

Two autumn festivals, both in Eastern Europe, are devoted to the work of cinematographers.

Macedonia's Intl. Cinematographers' Film Festival Manaki Brothers -- named (albeit awkwardly) after the pioneers of Macedonian cinematography, Yanaki and Milton -- is the older of the two, celebrating its 29th edition this year.

And in Lodz, Poland -- famed for its film school and studios -- CamerImage marks its 16th anniversary.

The Manaki Brothers festival is the key international film event in Macedonia, a small Balkans country that has a strong cinematic heritage despite today only having five functioning cinemas.

To mark its growing international reputation, this year the festival has added two days to accommodate a more varied program and will, for the first time, take place in both Bitola, where the Manaki brothers lived, and in the capital, Skopje.

Two Macedonian features are included in the program: the premiere of "Upside Down," directed by Igor Ivanov Izy, which opens the fest; and the local bow of Teona Strugar Mitevska's acclaimed "I Am From Titov Veles."

Lifetime achievement awards are due to be presented to Russian Anatoli Petritsky, who was director of photography on Sergei Bondarchuk's epic "War and Peace," and to producer Branko Lustig for his special contribution to world cinema.

CamerImage was established in 1993 with the help of lenser Sven Nykvist and Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.

With a strong professional presence from top camera and production equipment manufacturers, the festival attracts the best filmmakers, emerging talent and students.

This year, a Polish director who had spent much of his career in working abroad, Andrzej Zulawski ("Fidelity," "Boris Godunov"), will be presented with a lifetime achievement award honoring his "unique visual sensitivity."

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990961.html

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