Skopje, 13 July 2023 (MIA) - The Macedonian premiere of Vardan Tozija’s feature film “M” kicks off the 22nd European Film Festival "Cinedays" in the park of the Youth Cultural Center (MKC) in Skopje on Thursday. 

This year's festival edition, held under the theme “Movie Night”, showcases 40 films from the latest achievements of European cinema and short films which will be screened from July 13 through to July 18. Over 50 guests are expected to attend, three music events will be held, as well as seven workshops. The novelty of the festival's 22nd edition is the Film Critics’ Jury, with the expectation that it will be an officially accredited FIPRESCI jury next year.

On Tuesday, July 18, another premiere of a Macedonian film – “The Business of Pleasure” directed by Goce Cvetanovski, is set to close the festival. 

Cinedays Program Coordinator, Margarita Arsova, told a press conference on Monday that despite the significantly reduced budget, the professionalism and enthusiasm of the MKC team has made it possible to draw up an excellent program that does not deviate from its high ambitions.

“Once again, we are directly importing the film program of this year’s Cinedays from Cannes. We have a wonderful program in the official selection and in the Cine Balkan selection with young and promising European directors and guests from the films. As part of the compact program of this year’s festival we will see titles by Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Nanni Moretti, Aki Kaurismäki, François Ozon, Alexander Sokurov… And we also have five premieres of Macedonian short films. Due to budget restrictions, the program focuses on quality over quantity,” said Arsova.

The Festival’s program includes international and domestic films and co-productions as part of the Official Selection, Gala Program, SEE Program, MK Shorts and a retrospective dedicated to films with David Bowie as an actor.

This year’s program will be screened at two locations – in MKC and the Cinematheque of North Macedonia, including both outdoor and indoor screenings. 

The 22nd edition of Cinedays also includes a masterclass with Mitko Panov and a screening of his film “The Witness”, as well as two other masterclasses with Jure Matičič, the programmer of the Slovenian Mestni kino Domžale, and Gabriele Brunnenmeyer, who works as an independent consultant for the MIDPOINT Institute.

Additionally, two workshops will be held as part of the festival, the first one titled “Self-Tape and Online Casting in the Digital Era” will be held by award-winning casting director Luci Lenox, while the second one, titled “Basics of Film Language” is aimed for children under 15, and will be held by film and TV director Sasha Stanishikj.

The tickets for all screenings cost Mden 200.

The 22nd European Film Festival "Cinedays" is held with the support of the Cinematheque of North Macedonia, Publicis, EU for YOU, Goethe Institute, the North Macedonia Film Agency and several companies. ad/nn/

Photo: 22. Cinedays/fb