FESTIVAL DEDICATED TO MANAKI BROTHERS (Movie)

Janaki Manaki (1878-1954)

The creative work of the brothers Yanaki (1878-1954) and Milton (1880-1964) MANAKI, the first cameramen on the Balkans, is undoubtedly rich and significant. The cinematographic history of Macedonia started with them, marking its most important basic values.
Manaki Brothers were born in a small Vlah village Avdela near the town Grevena (Kostur area). They started to work together in 1898. During this time Yanaki was a drawing professor in the high school in Yanina, where he opened his photo studio and had his younger brother Milton study photography. With his curious spirit and his diligence, Milton soon became a master of photography, learning everything from his brother Yanaki and was under his influence.
In 1904, the Manaki brothers decided to live in Bitola, so that was Milton’s “last stop”, because in that period Bitola was an important political, economic and cultural center for the Balkans. In 1905 they moved their studio to Bitola and opened their well-known “Studio for art photography”. 1906 was also an important year for the Manaki brothers. At the invitation of King Karol the First, they took part in the Big World Exhibition in Sinaia – Romania. They won a Gold medal for their photo collection and received the title of court photographers of His Majesty Karol the First. The older brother Yanaki was also paid to visit several European capitals and thus started his international pilgrimage. Travelling to Paris, Yanaki first stopped in Vienna, then stayed briefly in London where for the first time he saw a film camera. That was the historical event for him. He later returned to London and bought a camera from the CHARLES URBAN TRADING CO. It was the 300th camera from the “Bioscope” series, thus with that famous Camera 300 started the life of the Macedonian cinematography on the Balkans.

Milton Manaki (1880-1964)

The Manaki Brothers made the first “moving pictures” in their birthplace Avdela. There, they “immortalized” their 114-year-old grandmother, Despina, together with other weavers in the village. The shot was extraordinary expressive and suggestive. And so began their great cinematographic opus, a testimony of their time, a rich and fruitful work. From the preserved materials we should mention the documentary film recordings of “The Visit of Sultan Mehmed the 5th Rashid to Salonika and Bitola”, “The Romanian Minister Istrate visits Bitola, Gopesh and Resen”, “The Nomad Karakachani”, “The celebration of the religious festival Epiphany”, “The visit of Prince Alexander to Bitola”, then series of shots of village and town weddings, national customs, rituals and celebrations, and the well known shots of the Turkish reprisals against the Macedonian people after the Ilinden Uprising.

During their working life, besides the mentioned films, the Manaki Brothers were constantly taking photos of everyday life. In fact, the photography was their main business; their photo-studio kept on working. Milton was making photos even during the turbulent times on the Balkans in the first half of the 20-th Century (the First and Second Balkan War and the First and the Second World War). These historical photo-documents are priceless. They help to reconstruct the relevant events and identify persons from the regional history of Bitola and beyond. Their fields of interest relating to photography were great, here we can mention the most typical ones: The recording of the Macedonian revolutionary companies, rebels and Komita leaders as well as the recording of the Young Turks’ Revolution; The collections of the representatives of Diplomatic Corps in Bitola with many famous persons from that time, portraits of Kings, state leaders and Prime Ministers, war commanders. Especially impressive are the photos from the Balkan Wars and from the First World War, movements of troops, rusty guns, corps on the road, raised heads, lowered heads, officers in their new uniforms, soldiers in rags, German and Bulgarian boots on the Bitola cobblestones... In 1944 the 7th Macedonian Liberation Brigade entered Bitola. Photos full with dynamic and celebrating atmosphere. End of wars, and of foreign troops... time of the liberation.
Beside the work in their photo-studio and shooting with their photo and film Camera 300, the Manaki brothers were also showing films. The first film in their new Cinema “Manaki” under open sky in “Wide Street” was held in 1921. The “Cinema Garden” was a temporary solution that did not satisfy the brothers. They later built a Cinema House and the first projection there, was on the first of December 1923. The Cinema worked with variable success. It changed owners, but in 1939 burnt to ashes...
In the film opus of Milton Manaki, his spontaneous recording, with a natural instinct for the most significant events in Bitola and its surroundings, was truly relevant. Analyzing the film materials, the first impression is that Milton Manaki, who shot most of these shots, had a factographic attitude towards reality. Thus, his skill and knowledge to make the real choice of the recorded material are bigger and on this very field we could underline the significance of the first Balkan cameraman.
Finally, the whole photo and film opus of the Manaki brothers in general is undoubtedly very rich and very significant. Its consistent and esthetic value with the passing of time gets another dimension, a historic one, not only for the Macedonian cinematography but even more.
 

Source: www.manaki.com.mk

 By Goran Popcanovski