The 2012 Macedonian Film Festival

THE fourth annual Macedonian Film Festival aims to promote and pay homage to the vast cultural and artistic landscape of Macedonian cinema. Hieu Chau has more.

The Macedonian Film Festival will bring Macedonian films by both local and international talent to select big screens in Melbourne next month.

The festival kicks off on September 21 with the critically-acclaimed Mothers, Macedonia’s official submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film in 2011.

Since its 2010 world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Mothers has been making the rounds in the international film festival circuit.

The film is directed by Milcho Manchevsik, arguably the Southeast European nation’s most well-known filmmaker, who has previously been nominated for an Academy Award for his 1994 debut feature film Before the Rain – the first Macedonian film to be recognised by the Academy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2NUCvGpk7M[/youtube]

The festival will also feature Punk’s Not Dead, a 2011 black comedy that follows the story of a disillusioned man as he tries to reunite his old punk rock band for a benefit concert. Made with a low budget and utilising a documentarian approach, the film’s script has attracted praise, and it was also the official Macedonian submission for this year’s Academy Awards .

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ndGs53V6M[/youtube]

Films aside, other draw cards for the event include one of the theatres where the film festival will take place – the Sun Theatre in Yarraville.

The Sun Theatre in Yarraville’s rich history and beautiful art deco interior design will surely add a completely different element to the movie-going experience.

The full program and schedule for festival have yet to be released to the public. Check back at the official website of the Macedonian Film Festival in coming weeks for more information.