Following the initiative and mediation of the Forum for Reasonable Policies and under the auspices of the Manaki Brothers festival, a memorandum was signed by seven film theatres from Macedonia: Cinemateque of North Macedonia, Drive-In Cinema Bitola, 3D Cinema Bitola, Culture Center – Bitola, Cinema Kinoverzum Sveti Nikole, Cinema Frosina Skopje, Cinema Millenium and Cineplexx Skopje, including the Film Agency North Macedonia and the office of Creative Europe MEDIA MK. This year we mark the 100 th anniversary of the first cinema opened by Manaki brothers, and this memorandum serves as a symbolic celebration of this jubilee.
“This memorandum expresses the interest and desire for a joint action of the film theatres in the country with a single goal – to make this Memorandum the basis for the creation of a single cinema network in the Republic of North Macedonia. The purpose of this cinema network is to link Macedonian film theatres and represent their shared interest. Such cinema-networks already exist in Europe, as well as in the region, and all over the world. And now, by bringing together the film theatres in the country, we intend to bring the lost audiences back and create new cinema audiences, as well as educate them,” said Bistra Georgieva from the Forum for
Reasonable Policies.
It was stressed that, if until now, every single theatre had dealt with the challenges on their own, from now on, they would join their efforts to create new cinema audiences, because, according to Georgieva, all that work in the field of culture were obliged to offer such new strategies and solutions.
“I am very glad that we have agreed upon this networking in Bitola, because throughout the years, Bitola has elevated itself into a cinematic center with the Manaki Brothers festival and the establishment of a 3D cinema, as well as with the ethnographic film festival, Camera 300 festival, and others. I would like to say that, although we have signed this memorandum today on a piece of paper, we have been networking naturally all this time and we have realized countless co-operations,” said Maja Andonovska Ilievski, the director of the Culture Center – Bitola.
After the official signing of the Memorandum, the members of this initiative announced their next meeting in the town of Sveti Nikole.