Nomen est omen - what's in a name? I have to title the homeland of the marvellous Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers Film Festival with considerable care, as the Artistic  Director of this fine but moveable feast of film in Balkan Bitola already bollocked me for locating it in what we in the EU are obliged to call FYROM, and which my Grecian friends will be equally horrified if I style simply  the Republic of Macedonia.(Indeed, it was the much-missed movie magnate Max Roman- thoroughly Greek in spite of his name- who campaigned for Before the Rain, I think, to be designated as hailing from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia when it competed from that new nation for an Academy Award in Hollywood). Not in dispute is the fact that the Manaki Brothers themselves were pioneers of film-making in the so-called Balkans, and this festival is the oldest in the world- just- to focus on the art and practice of the cameraman (or cameraperson, not to be presumptuous and risk offending anyone else). A statue of the siblings proudly stands before the vasty Cultural Centre, in the heart of this Ottoman outpost, which is a welcoming city with mosques and Tito-era constructions, elegant belle epoque consulates, and vibrant contemporary bars. A suburb contains the stunning archaeological site of Heraclea Lyncestis, thought to have been founded by Philip II in the 4th century B.C.,and which this Phillip was delighted to revisit- on a festival excursion one sunny afternoon (between 10-21 October 2011)-and find growing, as more is revealed and restored each year, from mosaics to an ancient theatre.

Bitola is today the second largest city of the modern Republic, with a population of something over 100,000 souls, and much rakija, but it was also the place where the man who became Attaturk went to military school, and more recently has furnished locations for one of Turkish television's most popular serials. Sarah Bernhardt also played the place in 1917, touring as Hamlet (or should that be Hamlette?) to the delight of French soldiers between manoeuvres (as recreated in a lavish local short Sarah, The Myth -directed by Sasha Stanishic, world-premiered and competing, helas unsuccessfully in the Short Film Program). It is more or less equidistant from two very different international airports which share a name--Thessaloniki's, in the other Macedonia, commonly called Greece (and a lot more besides, in view of its tragic Euro-crises), which is in a different time zone from F.Y.R.O.M - literally, one hour ahead. I have often arrived there in the middle of the night, wafted from Prague or Rome (Thessaloniki is not the best connected of cultural capitals as far as scheduled flights go and come- not many do, at decent times)-and have managed to reach my room in the superbly-situated Hotel Epinal(across the street from  Bitola's Festival Centre) not so long after the touch-down of my Skyteam flight, on Alitalia or CSA.

Sadly, CSA now no longer serves the UK, so I was obliged to fly via Zagreb to Skopje, capital of the modernising Republic of Macedonia, and at midnight found the other Alexander the Great airport greatly transformed, into a huge, gleaming new structure - apparently owned and built if not also  run by Turks- with capacious and efficient facilities but few flights, in or out. The arrivals area is dwarfed by a statue of -let's say- not Colin Farrell, on horseback, waving a lethal-looking boarding-card. When Polish maestro Lech Majewski had landed after  a short delay, the festival driver sped us to Bitola in a couple of hours, but not in time to catch even the dregs of the opening party, hosted, I think, by the President of the Republic Gjorge Ivanov, an evident fan of movies and monuments.(Fortunately, I had already seen the striking opening film  The Forgiveness of Blood, a contemporary Albanian revenge drama directed by an American, as a juror at the Prishtina Film Festival, but don't let's get into who recognises the land where that festival lurks and what it is called, and for that reason had opted to take Croatian Airways, twice, at civilised times, rather than leave a London airport in the night of the previous day in order to reach Bitola in time for the Opening Ceremony).

It is appropriate for a festival to focus on cinematography in the Republic of Macedonia as the light here - just as in neighbouring Greece,as Walter Lassally never failed to insist- is so right for shooting film, and on many days of the year. Unsurprisingly, more and more foreign producers are becoming aware of this and the Macedonian Film Fund fosters more and more co-productions with the limited means at its disposal.

Celebrating its 32nd edition, Manaki Brothers is senior to the better-known (as simpler to pronounce, perhaps) Camerimage in Poland, held in chillier winter, and which has also become something of a moveable film-feast, as it has flitted from Torun to Lodz to frankly I'm not sure where now.(But it must have good food,as Mike Leigh has attended). But Manaki must have the most beautiful film festival director in the world (sorry, Chicago), in the exquisite persona of the actress Labina Mitevska, who has shown herself adept in front of many cameras (not least before those wielded by her sister, the film director Teona Mitevska). And if the country does not bring forth any wodka of note, mastika and local wines and some heavenly rakijas (especially those made by monks) are strong rivals, and the food is fine everywhere (and such large portions, for low prices).

So a goodly hundred or so international guests gladly gather for this annual celebration of the art of the cinematographer(as no less a luminary than Vittorio Storaro expressed it there in a Master Class a few years ago, it's not just camera-work, capisce?)

Good to see also local audiences increasing for the screenings in the huge hall, and young enthusiasts crowding into a smaller auditorium in the same building for sessions with the selected honorees Dante Spinotti (Jury President) and Bruno Delbonnel, presenting clips from their films and discussing them articulately and amusingly, as well as the excellent actor Miki Manojlovic, receiving a deserved career tribute as the star of the closing film Besa,  and a  most charming guest at an exquisite lunch hosted by the French Embassy in the boutique Hotel Milenium, nestling on the Corso, Bitola's vibrant version of the Via Veneto. This small but beautiful newish hotel also served a gourmet feast organised by the Macedonian Film Fund, amply highlighting how truly cosmopolitan the local cuisine is in influences and variety.

Striking also was the strength of the entries in the parallel New Vision program- particularly the riotous Icelandic King's Road, truly a road movie with a vengeance- an anarchic and deliciously black comedy. directed by Valdis Oskardottir with fine performances by Daniel Bruhl and Ingvar E.Sigurdsson, largely set around and on a road where residents seek to extract tolls from passing trolls. The National Jury gave their award in this section to Shelter, one of the impressive new wave of films from Bulgaria - this first feature by Dragomir Sholev focusses on a young punk overlooked by his family (but this film was not overlooked by yours truly when a jury member at Durres in 2010).

The International Jury, which included Eva Zaoralova,doyenne of Karlovy Vary,  young writer Goce Smilevski (whose first two novels are already being published in 20 countries and destined for film adaptations),Welsh camera wizard Nigel Walters, now president of IMAGO, and the dapper director of the Austrian Film Commission Martin Schweighofer, awarded the Golden Camera 300 to The Turin Horse, Hungarian Bela Tarr's hail and farewell to cinema, for Berlin-based Fred Kelemen's outstanding black-and-white imagery, while the Russian entry  Silent Souls took the Silver Camera 300, which Kristina Depo (representing the Sparkasse Bank, sponsor of a lively cocktail party during the festival) handed over to Mikhail Krichman for his contribution to Aleksei Fedorchenko's sad romance), The Bronze Camera 300 was awarded to The Mill and the Cross, the remarkable recreation of Pieter Breughel's painting by Lech Majewski, who had already left to present it in another festival in another country.

The calendar is crowded with film festivals of every shape and size- The Manaki Brothers event is dedicated to the most vital element of cinema and takes the camera seriously.This last edition was well organised, with the  human dimension retained and the social aspect well to the fore, in spite of a modest budget. Good facilities for press, translations on screen and at conferences, and the traditional excursions to Ohrid enable professional guests to see one of Europe's loveliest lake-side old cities, home to a celebrated summer arts festival and which could be a wonderful setting for a film festival. There may well be 365 churches still visitable, but there is not a single cinema. Quand-meme, the enterprising French manage to mount a film week there, later in the year. However it should be named, the Republic of Macedonia deserves to get by with a litle more help from its friends.

Phillip Bergson

The 33rd Manaki Brothers International Film Festival runs 15-21 September 2012                    

www.manaki.com.mk