
The International Cinematographers' Film Festival Manaki Brothers proudly announces its 45th anniversary edition, set to take place from September 21 to 27, 2024, in the historic city of Bitola, North Macedonia. As the world's oldest festival dedicated exclusively to the artistry of cinematographers, the Manaki Brothers Film Festival continues to honor the legacy of its namesakes Yanaki and Milton Manaki, pioneers of cinematography in the Balkans.
A Legacy of Excellence
Since its inception in 1979, the festival has evolved into a global celebration of cinematography, becoming a pivotal platform for recognizing the talents behind the camera. In 1991, following Macedonia's Declaration of Independence, the festival broadened its scope to include an international competition, awarding the prestigious Golden, Silver, and Bronze Camera 300 prizes to the finest cinematographers from around the world.
This year the festival is thrilled to honor Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC, with the Golden Camera 300 for Lifetime Achievement in Cinematography. Delbonnel, a visionary, French cinematographer renowned for his work on films such as Am lie, A Very Long Engagement, and The Tragedy of Macbeth, joins the esteemed ranks of previous recipients like Sven Nykvist, ASC, FSF and Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC. His illustrious career, marked by six Academy Award nominations, reflects his extraordinary ability to capture the magic of storytelling through the lens.
The festival will also celebrate the outstanding contributions of Polish cinematographer Jolanta Dylewska, PSC with the Special Golden Camera 300 Award. Dylewska, a pioneer in the industry and a multiple award-winner at previous editions of the festival, is recognized for her exceptional work on films like In Darkness and Tulpan. Her mastery of light and shadow has left a lasting mark on the world of cinema.
The Manaki Brothers Film Festival is introducing the Trailblazer Award, a prestigious honor celebrating individuals who have not only excelled in their craft but have also forged new paths for future generations. The inaugural Trailblazer Award sponsored by Shotdeck, will be presented to Nancy Schreiber, ASC. Schreiber's illustrious career spans decades, contributing to some of the most visually compelling projects in the independent filmmaking sector. As one of the first women to join the American Society of Cinematographers, Schreiber has been a driving force in challenging industry norms and advocating for diverse inclusion.
In a move to further honor the collaborative spirit of filmmaking, the festival will also introduce the Creative Synergy Award, sponsored by SUMOLIGHT GmbH. This new award celebrates the often-unsung collaboration between a Director of Photography and their gaffer, recognizing the impact this partnership has on visual storytelling. The inaugural Creative Synergy Award will be presented to Alice Brooks, ASC, and her chief lighting technician, Dave Smith, for their extraordinary work on the production of Wicked. Their seamless collaboration brought a vibrant, magical world of Oz to screen, demonstrating the power of a shared vision.
The 45th edition of the Manaki Brothers Film Festival promises a rich and diverse program with over 150 cinematographers in attendance. Alongside the awards and competition, attendees can look forward to exclusive film premieres, special screenings, panel discussions, workshops, and masterclasses led by industry pros, offering insights and fostering creative exchanges.
Fabian Wagner, ASC, BSC, and Agnieszka Szeliga will present First Steps, an initiative promoting diversity and gender equality in the camera department and film industry by placing mentees in productions with supportive Heads of Departments. Guest panelists Alice Brooks, ASC, and Teresa Medina, AEC will add their perspective on mentorship, and their experience as current mentors and past mentees.
IMAGO Federation will host a Masterchat with the Masters, featuring renowned cinematographers Dante Spinotti, ASC, John Seale, ASC, ACS, Christian Berger AAC, James Friend, ASC, BSC and other legends of the industry, sharing their professional journeys.
The Powerful Women of Manaki series panel will highlight female pioneers who have driven global change in film and television. Additionally, the festival will showcase an exhibition of life-sized black and white portraits of cinematographers, I of The lens, curated by Vika Safrigina and artist Susanna Kraus, using the IMAGO Camera. A presentation by leading cinematographer agencies will also discuss the importance of visual identity and representation in the industry.
The IMAGO Regional Conference will host 12 regional countries. This year's focus builds on the Manaki Manifesto from the 2023 Balkan conference, which addressed working conditions in the Balkans, proposed by Nigel Walters, BSC. The IMAGO Working Condition Committee chairs, Kurt Brazda, AAC, and Paul Rene, FNF, will join the discussion via Zoom to engage with delegates on this topic.
Five projects will be selected for the Manaki Co-production Forum with France, focusing on feature-length fiction films in development with national funding and potential for co-production with France. Eligible countries include N. Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Kosovo. Representatives from the selected projects will have one-on-one meetings with three French producers, guests of the festival.
The festival will kick off with a grand opening gala on September 21, attended by notable figures in the film industry and officials of North Macedonia. The closing ceremony on September 27 will be a celebration of cinematic excellence, with the awarding of the Camera 300 prizes.
Join us at the Manaki Brothers Film Festival! For further information, press inquiries, and accreditation details, pl
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
15/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
15/06/2025
Composer/producer launches free virtual instruments
Sulcata Sound is the latest venture of Jason Graves, a two-time British Academy Award-winnning composer,...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...
14/06/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....
14/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
14/06/2025
San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...
14/06/2025
Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast
Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025
0 Comments
The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...
14/06/2025
AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...
13/06/2025
(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...
13/06/2025
Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima
If you're a true lover of rom-coms, chances...
13/06/2025
Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic spor...
13/06/2025
Johannesburg, 12 June 2025 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
13/06/2025
ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....
13/06/2025
Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...
13/06/2025
(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...
13/06/2025
New iPad/iPhone synth App announced
Following on from last year's release of Gradient Synth - which reached #6 on the App Store's Paid Music charts ...
13/06/2025
LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...
13/06/2025
AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...
13/06/2025
At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...
13/06/2025
Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...
13/06/2025
Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...
13/06/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...
13/06/2025
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...
13/06/2025
Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...
13/06/2025
PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...
13/06/2025
OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
The motion design and production ...
13/06/2025
On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...
13/06/2025
In fulfilment of a recommendation by the Government's Expert Advisory Commit...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...
13/06/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE...
13/06/2025
Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer? Leaders from Sky Austria and ACS discuss the possibilities of camera placement pitchside B...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage clash between Bath and Leicester gets full...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports gears up for Bath vs Leicester battle w...
13/06/2025
NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Ne...
13/06/2025
New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits o...
13/06/2025
Apple today announced the addition of iPad to Self Service Repair, providing iPad owners with access to repair manuals, genuine Apple parts, Apple Diagnostics t...
13/06/2025
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps use...
13/06/2025
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple unveiled Apple Games, an all-new destination designed to help players jump back into the games they...
13/06/2025
Industrial AI isn't slowing down. Germany is ready.
Following London Tech Week and GTC Paris at VivaTech, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Europea...
12/06/2025
In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to ...
12/06/2025
50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celeb...