“Film Weavers” is the theme of the visual identity of this year’s edition of the Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers’ Film Festival, created by artist and graphic designer Vanja Štrkova, a member of the New Moment creative team.
The visual concept draws inspiration from the first film frame captured with a motion-picture camera in the Balkans by the Manaki Brothers, incorporating a work by world-renowned artist Kiro Urdin, together with photographs by Goran Tachevski, who lives and works in Prague and, throughout his 50-year career, has collaborated with leading magazines, agencies and internationally renowned personalities.
“Macedonian cinematography was born from the image of a woman spinning thread. From Baba Despina and the first frames captured by the Manaki Brothers to the present day, our filmmakers have been weaving stories that preserve our past while, at the same time, opening our gaze to the world.
That is why ‘Film Weavers’ is more than the visual identity of this year’s edition. It is a reminder of a long and rich tradition of storytelling. It is particularly symbolic that we are approaching 2027, when we will mark 75 years since
Frosina, the first Macedonian feature film, whose title character is also a weaver. From the first frame to Frosina and to contemporary filmmakers, the thread continues, while the Manaki Brothers Festival remains the place where this tradition meets the most significant film weavers from around the world,” says Dimitrija Doksevski, Director of the Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers’ Film Festival.
Vanja Štrkova, a member of the New Moment team, is an illustrator and graphic designer whose visual language is distinguished by a bold use of colour, a free-flowing creative energy and a distinctive approach to storytelling through images.
“Every creative process begins with a single thread — an idea that, at first, may be barely visible, but gradually connects with other images, emotions and experiences. Just as in spinning and weaving, it takes rhythm, patience and intuition to transform individual threads into a whole. It was precisely in this parallel that we found the essence of the visual identity: filmmakers are film weavers who create stories from light, movement and time. The camera is their creative instrument. It does not merely capture reality; it allows it to be reshaped, felt and told
in a new way. That is why, in the poster, the camera and the spinning wheel are ‘woven’ into one another,
connected by the same thread. It is the thread of the human need to create and to tell stories,” says Štrkova, the artist behind the poster for the 47th edition of the Manaki Brothers Festival.
Goran Tachevski is a photographer with more than 50 years of professional experience in documentary, fashion, portrait and commercial photography. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with global brands, agencies, renowned personalities and publications including Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Le Monde and The New York Times. His work has received recognition at numerous international festivals.
Tachevski is also part of the visual identity of the Manaki Brothers Festival through his photographic portrayal of Macedonia, captured through his lens as a land of strong characters, authentic moments and stories with a distinctly cinematic atmosphere.
The 47th edition of the Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers’ Film Festival will take place from 19 to 25 September in Bitola, organised by the Macedonian Film Professionals Association, with the support of the Film Agency of North Macedonia, the Municipality of Bitola and the Cinematheque of North Macedonia, as well as A1, Leitz, Taskforce and the festival’s other valued partners and sponsors.
Over its 33-year history, New Moment has created some of the most recognisable posters for the Skopje Jazz Festival, MOT – Youth Open Theatre and Ohrid Summer. Its extensive award portfolio also includes a Titanium Lion and a Silver Lion from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.