WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.600 Welcome in. Grab a seat and get comfortable. 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:04.919 I am so thrilled to have you joining us today 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:08.380 for this deep dive. Yeah, we are really excited 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:11.679 to get into this one. Because when you think 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.939 about the film industry, and specifically about 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:16.239 film festivals, what immediately pops into your 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:19.699 head? You're probably picturing the massive yachts 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:22.339 docked at Cannes. Right. Or maybe you're imagining 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:27.199 the snowy, crowded streets of Sundance or the 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:29.739 blinding flashbulbs reflecting off the canals 00:00:29.739 --> 00:00:32.479 in Venice. All the classic glamour spot. Exactly. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:35.159 But today we are going to take you somewhere 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:38.020 completely unexpected, yet fundamentally important 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:40.380 to the actual magic of the movies you love. We 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:42.899 are pivoting away from those usual Hollywood 00:00:42.899 --> 00:00:45.600 -centric Western European narratives. Yeah, we 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:49.429 are. There is a location and an event that most 00:00:49.429 --> 00:00:51.609 casual moviegoers have probably never heard of. 00:00:51.710 --> 00:00:54.710 But it commands profound respect within the upper 00:00:54.710 --> 00:00:56.909 echelons of the film industry. Which is wild 00:00:56.909 --> 00:00:59.710 to think about. It is. Because we are looking 00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:03.250 at a festival entirely dedicated to the paradox 00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:06.829 of cinema. Celebrating the unseen observers who 00:01:06.829 --> 00:01:09.469 deliberately hide behind the lens so that the 00:01:09.469 --> 00:01:11.930 rest of the world can be seen. I love that framing. 00:01:12.129 --> 00:01:15.170 The unseen observers. Right. So today's source 00:01:15.170 --> 00:01:17.969 material is a Wikipedia article about the Menakee 00:01:17.969 --> 00:01:20.329 Brothers Film Festival, which is officially known 00:01:20.329 --> 00:01:23.090 as the International Cinematographers Film Festival. 00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:25.609 And our mission today is to explore how a town 00:01:25.609 --> 00:01:28.849 in North Macedonia became a global epicenter 00:01:28.849 --> 00:01:32.709 for the true unsung heroes of cinema. The people 00:01:32.709 --> 00:01:34.750 actually behind the camera, the ones framing 00:01:34.750 --> 00:01:37.010 the shots, capturing the light and, you know, 00:01:37.010 --> 00:01:39.129 manipulating your emotions without saying a single 00:01:39.129 --> 00:01:40.920 word. It's a completely different side of the 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:43.140 industry. It really is. We are going to find 00:01:43.140 --> 00:01:45.659 out why this highly specific gathering is one 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:48.200 of the film world's best kept secrets. OK, let's 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.560 unpack this. To really grasp the weight of this 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.780 event, we have to look at the name on the marquee. 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:56.260 It is not just a catchy branding exercise. No, 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:58.900 it's tied to real historical figures. Exactly. 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:02.120 The festival is named after the Aramanian brothers, 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:06.120 Yunaki and Milton Minaki. And their story is 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:08.900 what gives this entire event. It's soul. Because 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:11.719 they were operating way back in 1905. Right. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.259 And they weren't in Paris or New York. They were 00:02:14.259 --> 00:02:16.719 in a place called Abdela in the Ottoman Balkans. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:18.759 Which was a very different world back then. Oh, 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:20.580 completely. I tried to picture the logistics 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:23.580 of that. We are talking about an era when the 00:02:23.580 --> 00:02:25.580 Wright brothers had just barely gotten a plane 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:28.280 off the ground. The idea of capturing motion 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:30.680 pictures was basically magic. And doing it in 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:33.000 the Balkans at that specific time seems almost 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.879 impossible. It was an incredible physical and 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:38.599 logistical feat. You have to consider what the 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:40.360 Ottoman Imboletans was like at the turn of the 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.620 century. A massive, volatile melting pot. It 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:46.560 was. Getting heavy, wooden, hand -cranked cameras 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.460 and highly volatile chemical film stock into 00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:52.080 that region wasn't just a technological leap. 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.500 It was an expedition. Wow. The Menakee brothers 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:57.860 were dragging this cumbersome, cutting -edge 00:02:57.860 --> 00:03:00.580 equipment through dusty roads and mountain passes 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:03.590 just to document daily life. Meaning they were 00:03:03.590 --> 00:03:05.909 the first people to ever capture moving pictures 00:03:05.909 --> 00:03:08.789 in that entire region. They were. What's fascinating 00:03:08.789 --> 00:03:10.689 here is that this festival isn't just a random 00:03:10.689 --> 00:03:12.889 celebration that decided to set up shop in a 00:03:12.889 --> 00:03:15.370 picturesque town. Right. It is geographically 00:03:15.370 --> 00:03:17.949 and historically tied to the literal birth of 00:03:17.949 --> 00:03:21.370 cinema in that region. The festival is a direct 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.960 localized homage to the people who first looked 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.800 through a viewfinder and preserved the fleeting 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.120 reality of the Balkans. It makes the choice of 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:32.800 locations so deliberate. Very deliberate. Even 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:34.580 though the festival itself didn't come along 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:38.379 until 1979, it was established in what was then 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:42.099 SFR Yugoslavia, a unified socialist state that 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:44.599 eventually dissolved. But the festival persisted. 00:03:44.620 --> 00:03:46.840 It did. It found its permanent home in the town 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:49.979 of Batola in North Macedonia. And Batola is exactly 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:52.229 where Janaki and and Milton Maneke organized 00:03:52.229 --> 00:03:54.610 most of their activities. By hosting it there, 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:57.509 the organizers, which is the Macedonian Film 00:03:57.509 --> 00:03:59.789 Professionals Association, they are bringing 00:03:59.789 --> 00:04:02.110 the global film community back to the geographic 00:04:02.110 --> 00:04:04.930 roots of regional cinema. It establishes a continuum. 00:04:05.370 --> 00:04:08.569 Exactly. It tells the attendees that visual storytelling 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:11.050 didn't just happen in the West. It has a century 00:04:11.050 --> 00:04:13.830 -old lineage right beneath their feet in Patola. 00:04:14.139 --> 00:04:16.160 That brings up a really fun contrast. You have 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.939 this deeply historical regional town. The screenings 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:21.779 happen right in the center of the Tola, at the 00:04:21.779 --> 00:04:24.420 center of culture, in their big hall. It is a 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:26.720 point of immense national pride. Absolutely. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:29.079 Backed at the highest levels by the Ministry 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:31.519 of Culture and the president of North Macedonia. 00:04:31.779 --> 00:04:34.800 But then you look at who is actually walking 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.040 through the doors of that big hall. Here's where 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:39.819 it gets really interesting. The guest list is... 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.259 A complete culture clash in the best way possible. 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:44.839 It is wild. I'm looking at the attendees and 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:47.439 you have French cinema royalty like Catherine 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:49.620 Deneuve and Juliette Binoche. Isabel Huppert 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:52.500 too? Yes. And international stars like Bruno 00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:55.720 Gans and Victoria Abrel. Daryl Hannah was even 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:58.439 an exclusive guest back in 2010. And you can't 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:00.980 forget Charles Dance. Tywin Lannister himself. 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:03.920 Just imagine being Charles Dance, walking out 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.399 of a civic center in Batola, North Macedonia, 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:08.300 just hanging out with a bunch of introverted 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:12.399 camera nerds. It is such a brilliant image. It 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:15.600 really is. It sounds almost surreal, but it reveals 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.120 the true prestige of the event. You do not get 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:22.920 icons of that caliber to travel to a small Balkan 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.399 town unless the festival holds undeniable weight. 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:28.259 Right, they aren't going there for the paparazzi. 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:31.519 No. The reason these massive, world -famous actors 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:33.959 make the trek is out of pure respect for the 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:37.170 craft. In the normal ecosystem of a film set, 00:05:37.350 --> 00:05:40.069 the actors are in the spotlight. And the cinematographers 00:05:40.069 --> 00:05:42.810 are in the shadows. Exactly. This festival flips 00:05:42.810 --> 00:05:45.740 that dynamic completely upside down. The actors 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:47.639 come to sit in the audience and applaud the people 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:49.879 who make them look good. Because the core mission 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:52.339 of this festival is entirely focused on the visual 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:55.019 masters. They aren't handing out awards for best 00:05:55.019 --> 00:05:57.759 actor or best screenplay. The signature honor 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.540 here is the Camera 300. Completely dedicated 00:06:00.540 --> 00:06:02.860 to cinematographers. Which is a beautiful nod 00:06:02.860 --> 00:06:06.220 to the mechanics of the craft itself. Cinematography 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:08.879 is a deeply psychological art form. It's definitely 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:10.980 not just about making sure the scene is bright 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:14.079 enough to see. Not at all. It is about choosing 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.920 the specific focal length of a lens to make a 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.600 character feel isolated or manipulating shadows 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:23.279 to create a sense of dread. The cinematographer 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.660 translates the written script into a visual emotional 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:28.779 language. And the highest honor Batola bestows 00:06:28.779 --> 00:06:30.980 for that translation is the Golden Camera 300 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:33.819 for Life Achievement. The roster of Lifetime 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:36.180 Achievement winners is basically a syllabus for 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:38.519 a master class in modern cinema. You see names 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:41.540 like Sven Nykvist, who defined the stark psychological 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:44.259 look of Ingmar Bergman's films. And Vittorio 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:47.529 Storaro, who uses color like a weapon. Plus more 00:06:47.529 --> 00:06:49.670 recent Hollywood titans like Roger Deakins in 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:53.649 2018, Janos Kamisky in 2020. And Bruno Del Bonel 00:06:53.649 --> 00:06:56.550 in 2024. How does a regional festival attract 00:06:56.550 --> 00:07:00.069 that specific tier of legendary talent? It is 00:07:00.069 --> 00:07:02.110 because cinematographers rarely get their own 00:07:02.110 --> 00:07:05.310 dedicated stage. The Academy Awards groups them 00:07:05.310 --> 00:07:07.649 in with a dozen other technical categories. That's 00:07:07.649 --> 00:07:09.949 true. They get rushed off the stage. But in Batola, 00:07:10.089 --> 00:07:11.930 they are the absolute center of the universe. 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:16.069 When Deakins or Comiskey accept that award, they're 00:07:16.069 --> 00:07:18.990 being recognized by a jury of their peers in 00:07:18.990 --> 00:07:21.170 an environment that understands the granular, 00:07:21.509 --> 00:07:24.649 agonizing decisions they make for every single 00:07:24.649 --> 00:07:27.750 frame. There is also a detail from 1996 that 00:07:27.750 --> 00:07:30.170 feels like the emotional core of the whole event. 00:07:30.449 --> 00:07:33.829 They awarded the Golden Camera 300 for life achievement 00:07:33.829 --> 00:07:37.339 to Milton Minaki. Posthumously. It is a beautiful 00:07:37.339 --> 00:07:39.720 way to close the circle. It places the regional 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:42.759 pioneer on the exact same pedestal as the modern 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:44.839 Hollywood titans. Beyond the lifetime honors, 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:47.560 there is also a fierce global competition for 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:50.040 the year's best motion pictures. Right, the competitive 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:52.720 golden and silver camera 300. And looking at 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:54.980 the winners, you realize this isn't just a showcase 00:07:54.980 --> 00:07:57.819 for local Balkan movies. The scope is massively 00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:00.060 international. It proves that cinematography 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:02.420 is the ultimate universal language. You don't 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:04.100 need to speak the language of the actors to feel 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:05.939 the impact of the framing. Let's look at some 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:08.040 of these specific winners because it really highlights 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:10.660 what the festival values. Okay, like in 2003, 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:14.660 Christopher Doyle won the Golden Camera 300 for 00:08:14.660 --> 00:08:17.959 the Chinese martial arts epic Hero. Such a stunning 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:20.040 film. When I think of that movie, I don't even 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:21.699 think of the dialogue. I just think of those 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:25.500 overwhelming saturated color palettes. The red 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.720 room, the blue sequence, the white desert. Doyle 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.439 treated the camera like a paintbrush and hero. 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:33.440 He used those distinct color palettes to represent 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:36.059 entirely different emotional states and versions 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:38.639 of the truth. It is a purely visual way of storytelling. 00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:41.559 Or consider another winner, the Polish film Ida, 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.600 shot by Ryzard Linczewski, which won in 2014. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.120 That film is famous for its black and white cinematography, 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:50.399 but it goes so much deeper than just removing 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.220 color. Immensely deeper, right? Think about Ida. 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:56.320 Langevsky deliberately framed the characters 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:59.039 entirely in the bottom third of the screen. He 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:01.320 left this huge, oppressive empty space above 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:03.700 their heads in almost every shot. He wasn't just 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:06.100 capturing the actors. No, he was using the negative 00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:08.159 space to visually represent the crushing weight 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:10.980 of history, trauma, and religion pressing down 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:13.779 on them. That is the kind of profound visual 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:16.059 storytelling this festival is designed to honor. 00:09:16.429 --> 00:09:18.690 That makes so much sense. You see that same emphasis 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:21.029 on environment in the more recent winners, too. 00:09:21.169 --> 00:09:23.070 Like Ruben Impin's winning for the Eight Mountains 00:09:23.070 --> 00:09:26.129 in 2022. Capturing those sweeping, isolating 00:09:26.129 --> 00:09:30.809 landscapes. And in 2023, Seve Hirshahin and Kursat 00:09:30.809 --> 00:09:34.149 Yurusin won for the Turkish film about dry grasses. 00:09:34.490 --> 00:09:37.230 If we connect this to the bigger picture, tracing 00:09:37.230 --> 00:09:40.970 these winners from 1993 to today acts as a timeline 00:09:40.970 --> 00:09:43.740 of global cinematic evolution. Because you are 00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:46.679 seeing the transition from film to digital, the 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:49.259 shifting trends in lighting and aspect ratios. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.919 You have films from Brazil, like Walter Carvalho's 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:55.820 gritty, vast work on Central Station. Sitting 00:09:55.820 --> 00:09:58.539 right alongside pristine digital landscapes from 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:00.860 Europe and Asia. All of these distinct cultural 00:10:00.860 --> 00:10:03.840 perspectives and visual styles converge in Batola 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:06.360 to be analyzed solely on the merit of their imagery. 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:08.659 So what does this all mean? Cinematography is 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:11.100 so subjective. One person's oppressive negative 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:13.899 space is another person's bad framing. That is 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:15.799 the big challenge. Who actually gets to decide 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.419 who the best is at a festival like this? It requires 00:10:18.419 --> 00:10:20.980 a highly discerning and diverse group of minds. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:24.240 The main competition juries in Batola are packed 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.600 with industry heavyweights from all over the 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.789 globe. Looking at the juries from 1995 to 2024, 00:10:30.289 --> 00:10:32.149 they aren't just bringing in local film critics. 00:10:32.250 --> 00:10:35.250 Far from it. They bring in highly acclaimed directors. 00:10:35.690 --> 00:10:37.450 You have people like the Oscar -winning Polish 00:10:37.450 --> 00:10:40.149 director Paul Polakowski serving on the jury 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:43.809 in 2010. Or the Serbian director Serjan Dragojevic 00:10:43.809 --> 00:10:46.789 in 2014. And of course you have legendary cinematographers 00:10:46.789 --> 00:10:49.269 serving alongside them, like Vilmo Sigmund and 00:10:49.269 --> 00:10:52.370 the brilliant French cinematographer Agnes Goddard. 00:10:52.669 --> 00:10:55.190 Having directors judge cinematographers is such 00:10:55.190 --> 00:10:57.450 an interesting dynamic. The director is usually 00:10:57.450 --> 00:11:00.090 the one giving the orders on set, but here they 00:11:00.090 --> 00:11:03.009 are forced to step back and purely evaluate the 00:11:03.009 --> 00:11:05.690 execution of the visual craft. It creates a wonderfully 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:08.809 rigorous debate. A director looks at a film and 00:11:08.809 --> 00:11:12.149 asks if the visual choices serve the story. While 00:11:12.149 --> 00:11:14.370 a cinematographer looks at the same film and 00:11:14.370 --> 00:11:16.929 asks how they achieved that depth of field in 00:11:16.929 --> 00:11:19.870 that lighting condition. Exactly. When you have 00:11:19.870 --> 00:11:21.809 a jury balancing both of those perspectives, 00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:25.909 winning a Golden Camera 300 truly means you have 00:11:25.909 --> 00:11:29.539 executed something flawless. Managing a festival 00:11:29.539 --> 00:11:32.080 with that level of rigorous debate and international 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:35.759 talent must be incredibly complex. But it sounds 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.299 like the festival had a very chaotic grassroots 00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:42.279 beginning. It did. It started in 1979, but apparently 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:44.179 it didn't even have an official director until 00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:48.190 14 years later in 1993. When Boris Nenetsky took 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:50.690 the role. It sounds chaotic, but it actually 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:53.470 speaks to how organic the festival's growth was. 00:11:53.750 --> 00:11:55.970 It wasn't created by a corporate board with a 00:11:55.970 --> 00:11:58.190 slick marketing strategy. It was built by a community 00:11:58.190 --> 00:12:00.190 of film professionals who just wanted to celebrate 00:12:00.190 --> 00:12:02.629 their craft. It was run by the collective before 00:12:02.629 --> 00:12:05.470 it grew so large that it finally had to formalize 00:12:05.470 --> 00:12:07.769 its leadership. And once it formalized, it really 00:12:07.769 --> 00:12:09.750 hit its stride. You had directors like Labina 00:12:09.750 --> 00:12:12.230 Matevsa guiding it through the era when stars 00:12:12.230 --> 00:12:14.649 like Juliette Binoche were attending. Bogosia 00:12:14.649 --> 00:12:18.740 Kunovsky and Eugenie Gentile. And currently, 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:22.779 Simeon Demeski is at the helm. Under this organized 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:25.320 leadership, the festival has evolved into something 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:27.600 more than just an awards show. It has become 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:30.120 a crucial launchpad for new art. We see that 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:32.799 specifically with the world and national premieres 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.539 hosted in Batola. They have premiered major regional 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:38.179 works over the years. Films like The Great Water 00:12:38.179 --> 00:12:40.679 in 2004. The world premiere of the third half 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:44.149 in 2012. And... more recent national premieres 00:12:44.149 --> 00:12:47.889 like Sisterhood in 2021 and Housekeeping for 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:51.049 Beginners in 2023. This raises an important question 00:12:51.049 --> 00:12:53.169 for anyone who cares about the survival of diverse 00:12:53.169 --> 00:12:55.570 storytelling. Okay, let's hear it. We often focus 00:12:55.570 --> 00:12:58.330 so heavily on massive global blockbusters with 00:12:58.330 --> 00:13:02.009 $100 million marketing budgets. But how do smaller, 00:13:02.169 --> 00:13:04.649 regional films from a country like North Macedonia 00:13:04.649 --> 00:13:07.309 ever find an audience? They need a megaphone. 00:13:07.610 --> 00:13:09.919 Precisely. By hosting these premieres at the 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:12.240 Menakee Brothers Film Festival, they are utilizing 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:14.620 a brilliant strategy. They lure the world's greatest 00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:16.659 cinematographers, elite directors, and international 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:19.919 press to Batola to celebrate the Camera 300 Awards. 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.519 And while they have a captive, highly influential 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.360 audience, they screen the very best of their 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.940 own national cinema. It ensures that local Macedonian 00:13:28.940 --> 00:13:31.879 films have a prestigious, globally recognized 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:34.899 platform right in their own backyard. It forces 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:36.960 the international industry to pay attention to 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.779 regional stories. It is this perfect symbiotic 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:42.519 loop. You honor the global masters of the craft. 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:45.419 And in return, the global masters shine a light 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:47.960 on the emerging local artists. It creates an 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.320 incredible culture of cinema in a town you might 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.600 never have expected. It is a testament to the 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:55.340 enduring power of the moving image. It doesn't 00:13:55.340 --> 00:13:57.789 matter if you are in Hollywood. Paris or Betola. 00:13:58.070 --> 00:14:00.950 The desire to capture reality, to frame it beautifully, 00:14:01.070 --> 00:14:03.429 and to share it with an audience is a universal 00:14:03.429 --> 00:14:05.950 human impulse. We have covered some fascinating 00:14:05.950 --> 00:14:08.450 ground today. We started by looking back at the 00:14:08.450 --> 00:14:11.070 sheer willpower of Janaki and Milton Manakee 00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:13.730 dragging wooden cameras through the volatile 00:14:13.730 --> 00:14:17.309 Ottoman Balkans in 1905 just to document the 00:14:17.309 --> 00:14:19.730 unseen life around them. We saw how that localized 00:14:19.730 --> 00:14:22.289 pioneering spirit gave birth to a festival in 00:14:22.289 --> 00:14:25.370 1979 that grew into a massive civic event in 00:14:25.370 --> 00:14:28.100 Betola. An event that flips the traditional Hollywood 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:30.879 script, asking the world's most famous faces 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:34.080 to sit in the audience while the quiet, meticulous 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.960 architects of the visual medium finally get their 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.899 moment in the sun. We explored the nuance of 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:42.980 the Camera 300 Awards, honoring legends who have 00:14:42.980 --> 00:14:46.200 defined the look of modern movies. And analyzing 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:49.620 how films from China to Poland to Brazil all 00:14:49.620 --> 00:14:52.600 speak the same visual language. We also looked 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:54.240 at the grassroots evolution of the festival, 00:14:54.419 --> 00:14:56.940 transforming from a directorless community gathering 00:14:56.940 --> 00:15:00.000 into a vital launchpad that sustains national 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.179 cinema on a global stage. So why does all of 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:05.440 this matter to you? The takeaway for you, the 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:07.820 listener, is highly practical. The next time 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:09.940 you find yourself sitting in a dark theater or 00:15:09.940 --> 00:15:12.179 even just streaming a movie on your couch, pay 00:15:12.179 --> 00:15:14.080 attention to the silence. When a character's 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:16.860 isolation is perfectly framed. Or when the shadows 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:18.659 in a room make your heart beat just a little 00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:23.019 faster. Remember that it isn't an accident. Cinematography 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:25.960 is a deliberate, psychological art form entirely 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:28.970 its own. And remember that there is a passionate 00:15:28.970 --> 00:15:32.269 community gathering every year in North Macedonia 00:15:32.269 --> 00:15:35.610 dedicated solely to keeping that specific magic 00:15:35.610 --> 00:15:37.950 alive. It genuinely changes the way you watch 00:15:37.950 --> 00:15:40.110 a film. You start looking for the brushstrokes. 00:15:40.169 --> 00:15:42.710 You really do. But before we wrap up our deep 00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:44.769 dive today, I want to leave you with one final 00:15:44.769 --> 00:15:47.639 lingering thought. Everything we discussed is 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:50.419 built on the foundation of two brothers who ventured 00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:54.259 out in 1905 to capture motion pictures in a part 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:56.360 of the world that had never seen a camera. They 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:59.200 were true pioneers. Documenting a reality that 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.779 had previously only existed as a fleeting memory. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.820 They observed the unseen and made it permanent. 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:07.279 A huge milestone. Now think about the reality 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.120 you and I live in today. We exist in a hyper 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.269 -documented era. There is a high definition digital 00:16:13.269 --> 00:16:15.549 camera in almost every single pocket on Earth. 00:16:15.649 --> 00:16:18.009 Every mundane street corner, every minor event 00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:20.789 is recorded, filtered and uploaded instantly 00:16:20.789 --> 00:16:23.570 to a global audience. So I want you to ask yourself, 00:16:23.769 --> 00:16:26.450 in a world where absolutely everything seems 00:16:26.450 --> 00:16:29.669 to be filmed all the time, what unseen corner 00:16:29.669 --> 00:16:32.850 of the human experience is still out there? waiting 00:16:32.850 --> 00:16:35.529 for a modern -day pioneer to capture it on film 00:16:35.529 --> 00:16:37.809 for the very first time. That is a brilliant 00:16:37.809 --> 00:16:40.070 question to ponder. It really makes you look 00:16:40.070 --> 00:16:42.570 at the world differently. Thank you so much for 00:16:42.570 --> 00:16:44.730 exploring this incredible history with us today. 00:16:44.809 --> 00:16:46.830 Keep looking closely at the light and shadows 00:16:46.830 --> 00:16:48.870 around you, and we will see you next time.