MACEDONIAN SAGA – Contemporary Macedonian film
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“Macedonian Saga” is a book about Macedonian film, which covers the period of independence, the period of thirty years marked by independent film production.
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​Unlike before, it is a very turbulent period in terms of film production in our country, in which we experienced the greatest successes, but also many great declines, when Macedonian cinema became unrecognizable in the world.
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​Today is not like that, many things have changed in the meantime, and most of all the awareness that the Macedonian film must find itself again and catch up with the currents in the world. Unfortunately, we missed a lot, especially to promote film culture and teach new generations how to demystify film.
But, some new flashes promise that everything is not lost, on the contrary. This book objectively and without embellishment publishes film reviews, but also many other articles, that talk about time and events without restraint, just as it was.
“Macedonian Saga” is my second book of reviews, but this time dedicated to the Macedonian film. I have been writing film reviews for more than 30 years, so I have written about all the films that came out from the 1990s onwards. And not only for the films, but also for the situation with the film in Macedonia in general, especially since its independence. That period is really very little processed, at least in terms of analysis that would cover the entire period and would talk about everything that characterizes the Macedonian film in the last thirty years. For the previous films, when there was an institutional film production in Macedonia, there are more books and analyzes, but this period of the so-called Contemporary Macedonian film or independent Macedonian cinematography (although there were independent films before) is much less processed with a comparative and comprehensive analysis.
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​That is why I decided to take such a step, considering that I am competent enough to refer to the Macedonian film in this way. But, not in the sense of doing a scientific work, but in the way that I will publish the reviews as they were written then, including several comments that were published in the daily press, which speak very well about that time and for what marked the Macedonian film or the attitude towards it in those years. So, I think that is offered what is relevant for that period, but without conclusions or expert analysis, leaving it all in the court of the public and the film workers. With that, I think that the objectivity of the author is achieved, although it is a fact that the choice of comments and reviews are still a personal attitude, but the most important thing is to offer arguments for them.
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​But, here I have to say that the selection of Macedonian films from this period, that will be included in the book, is different from the official list of Macedonian films from 1993 until today. Honestly, when I saw that list I was really surprised, because not only does it have a number of 92 films, but it covers everything, whether they are television films and whether we are majority or minority co-producers. In my opinion, that list does not reflect the real situation and does not comprise what is essentially a Macedonian film. Therefore, I made my own list of films and my own selection, which I consider relevant, to speak through these texts and critiques of the state of domestic production in the period of “independent cinema”, which comprise about thirty years. There are 45 films on my list, and in the selection I was guided by two criteria: to be a Macedonian author and it is a topic dominantly related to Macedonia. Of course, excluding television movies and everything that is not cinematic at all.
​And why “Macedonian Saga”? The first film that, in fact, was reviewed in the mentioned period is exactly “Macedonian Saga” by Macedonian established author, Branko Gapo. And it seemed that this title fits perfectly in my idea, to talk about the Macedonian story, but through such an angle that suggests all the ups and downs. Because, this period for the Macedonian film is really quite turbulent, we have big oscillations in it, there are periods that we have called the revitalization of the Macedonian film, but there are also periods when we have not had a single movie a year or sometimes just one. This whole production is very diverse, but maybe that's an even bigger challenge, because throughout that film story is reflected our struggle not only for recognition, but also our struggle for self-definition. As different as it is, that is us, and the film, you will see for yourself, that detects it perfectly (whether successful or not).
MOVIE GIANTS – Book of interviews
“Movie Giants” I called the book with 57 interviews with directors, screenwriters and actors from all over the world. I did not have any dilemma about that, with that title I started this adventure a year ago, when I decided to request a support and collect the interviews I did over the years, mostly at film festivals, but also at home. Why movie giants? Because, if in the book you bring interviews with some of the most important authors of present, authors who with their work changed and influenced the course of film art, in general, it couldn’t be otherwise.
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​The author of the new German film, Wim Wenders, the legends of Iranian film, Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Jafar Panahi, the cult American director, Abel Ferrara, the unique Armenian, Atom Egoyan, the most original Israeli filmmaker, Amos Gitai, the special, most eminent Polish director, Agnieszka Holland, the most significant Palestinian author, Elia Suleiman, Romanian film veteran, Lucian Pintilie, the most controversial figure of the late 20th century, British filmmaker Peter Greenaway, cult French director, Claude Lelouch, Turkish film poet Nuri Bilge Ceylan and many other giants of world cinema, giants who have left and leave an indelible mark in time, which always re-examines the meaning and essence of film images.
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​But, there are also younger ones, whose influence and significance is indisputable, the Turkish-German director, Fatih Akin, or the current Romanian director, Florin Serban, as well as the innovative Mexican author, Amat Escalante, who was able to shock the public, and it is interesting that I decided to include several newcomers in the selection, such as the Dutch-Iranian director, Kaweh Modiri, or the Hungarian discovery, Nimrod Antal... Namely, what I thought was important, was the skill, originality and impact that these authors have already made at their very beginnings and which are worth talking about and hearing what they have to say. I allowed myself in my choice, maybe to be the first, but to respect what I believe in and to offer those films and film manuscripts to the readers, because, as we enjoyed discovering them, I believe they will too.
​Honestly, doing an interview is not as simple as it seems. Or rather to say, it depends on what you expect, why you are doing the interview and how you approach it. It’s not easy to interview authors who know how to capture their own special world, in which they believe and with which their being is filled. For me, the interview is entering and getting to know their world with all the specifics that world brings, with the whole philosophy of life, by discovering of the peculiarities of origin, of ideas, of crossing borders, of the approach that makes them different, but also universal, of what they want to convey to the viewers through the film image, so that they can understand, identify, comprehend, experience. It is not easy to get them into such communication, because it requires trust, and trust is gained if you really understand and know how to see that world.
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​Interviews are literally a special literary genre, because they allow you to write through conversation about what has touched you, about what has left a strong mark and which always challenges and seeks answers. The interlocutors are different, some know how to say it, some only know how to paint it. My goal was to select and offer interviews that can be read at any time, that have in them content and uniqueness, which is intriguing, disturbing, which makes you think, to search, to know. But, of course, I haven’t forgotten our country, nor this region which has exceptionally quality authors, who made legendary films in ex-Yugoslavia, and today. I am proud of my last interview with the unique Montenegrin author, Zivko Nikolic, I am proud of the conversations with the members of the Prague's film school FAMU, Srdjan Karanovic and Rajko Grlic, who have so much to say, but also of the Macedonian authors, such as: Milcho Manchevski, Ivo Trajkov, Darko Mitrevski, Antonio Mitrikeski, but also the younger, but excellent screenwriter and director, Eleonora Veninova, from whom there is already much to learn.
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​I hope that these interviews mean and bring much more than expected at first glance from that conversations about film works. In that way I approached them and I arranged them, without intention, without tendency, without any grouping after this or that, no, only as interviews that bring the essence and timelessness, and all are important in their own unique way.
