The first festival day of the 45 th edition of the ICFF "Manaki Brothers" began with the press conferences of Bruno Delbonnel, this year`s laureate of the Golden Camera 300 for Lifetime Achievement, Daria D'Antonio, the cinematographer of “Parthenope” directed by Paolo Sorrentino – a film that opened the Festival last night, Dimitar Grbevski, a film and television editor who won the MFPA award this year, the „Star of Macedonian Film“. The jury members were also presented.

Today at the meeting with journalists, Delbonell spoke about the meaning of the award, the friendship with fellow cinematographers and the significance of the International Cinematographers Film Festival „Manaki Brothers“. 

„For me all this is amazing, I never imagined such a thing, above all because I am a cinematographer and I don't think I am done with what I do. All these laureates in front of me are amazing names and I admire them“, Delbonnel said.

With the attendees, he shared an experience he had with cinematographer Lászlóovács in Palm Spring and Los Angeles in the United States and said it is amazing when cinematographers meet, socialize and discuss.

„I didn`t meet Sven Nykvist, but Storaro and the other laureates of this festival have great works and I just find it amazing“, Delbonel said.

Daria D`Antonio, Paolo Sorrentino`s cinematographer, spoke about “Parthenope”.

This is her second time on "Manaki Brothers", the first time was with the film „The Hand of God“.

“The film talks about the past and a special reminiscence of the youth. The actress and I had a special relationship. It was her first film and I had a somewhat protective attitude towards her. It was very important to have good communication because she was a little vulnerable. I approached all the locations with great freedom and each of them has a symbolism so I tried to put it all together. It's my city and it wasn`t at all easy to show it from a different perspective”, Antonio said.

The laureate of the MFPA award, „Great Star of Macedonian Film“, Dimitar Grbevski, at today`s meeting with journalists spoke about his experience of working with Macedonian directors of all generations.

“This award means a lot to me, this completes all the efforts I have invested throughout my life. I am still active, working with students who have already graduated and are consulting me. Many generations have graduated in film editing and work not only in Macedonia but also abroad, among them the producer of „Honeyland“ who was our representative for the Oscars”, Grbevski said. 

He also told about the experience of Hollywood, where he went together with the team of the film „DAE“ by Stole Popov, who was an Oscar candidate.

The jury of the official selection of the Golden Camera 300 consists of John Sill, as President, Agnès Godard, Cevahir Şahin, Birgit Gudjonsdottir and Vladimir Blazhevski; Kürşat Üresin, Jani Petteri Passi and Núria Roldos are members of the jury for the European Lo-Cap Program and Documentary Program and Nancy Schreiber, Oona Menges and Georgi Klincharov comprise the jury for the short and student program.

They told reporters today that it is a great honor, but also a great challenge to decide on the films of the ICFF „Manaki Brothers“.

“We have great works, fascinating films and it is a great honor to be a member of the jury. But the best thing about all this is that we have the opportunity to spend time with cinematographers and discuss. We work most of the time, and thanks to this Festival, Bitola is a place where we discuss our work and it is a privilege to be here”, it was said at the press conference.