[su_heading size=”21″]Academy award-nominated director Milcho Manchevski visits York[/su_heading]
Milcho Manchevski, the Macedonian-born director, looked out with his icy blue eyes at the audience seated in the blue-lined wooden seats at the Nat Taylor Cinema in the North Ross Building. “How many cinema studies majors are here?” he asks. Three people raise their hands. “Filmmakers?” About 15 people raise their hands.
“Filmmakers win.”
Winning is something that Academy award-nominated Manchevski is familiar with. Having received the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival for his debut 1994 film Before the Rain, as well as the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film, Manchevski is a master of inventive and powerful films.
Based in New York, Manchevski had just arrived in Toronto moments before and rushed to York to provide a masterclass and promote a retrospective of his films that opened the 10th annual Macedonian Film Festival that ran from October 22 to 25at the Carlton Cinema.
The moderator, who was likely in love with the sound of her own voice, was asked to slow down by the sign language interpreter who could not keep up as they discussed Manchevski’s master career.
“Directing is executing,” he says.
[su_pullquote]“It starts with playing and lots of hard work. Learn when to use a close-up and when to kill a character. What you learn is based on experience, watching films, and following your heart. Believe in what you are saying and the need to say that. Are you telling this story because you are really interested or because you want to be on E!?”[/su_pullquote]
Nervous laughter waves through the audience, not because it’s funny, but because for most of these students the question requires a double take.
Manchevski might not be a name you instantly recognize. After his breakout hit Before the Rain, which was famously compared to Pulp Fiction by the late Roger Ebert, Manchevski directed an episode of The Wire, which he described as “a job for hire, you come in for one episode and you go, a different animal.” This was followed by three other films that were not as commercially or critically successful.
“Why do you think this happened?” asked the moderator, placing an elephant in the room.
“I don’t know. They are better films. Whether a film is successful is not a reflection if it’s good,” he answered.
The silent audience let that sink in, as he cited Mothers as a favorite of his own, and the moderator moved along.
“We have a responsibility as a filmmaker, don’t lie. Don’t do it for the money. Art is to create something beautiful and meaningful on its own. Film can change people’s consciousness, make them see the world in a different way. Art always has a message. Every story has a message. Every film is political.”
When I talked to Manchevski, peppered hair and charming smile, the crow’s feet bunching up with an ecstatic look in his eyes, he was not pretentious or intimidating, but emitted a playful, curious nature. “I don’t really watch that many movies. I [would] rather go to the museum,” says Manchevski. Rather than commercial cinema, Manchevski is among important and progressive filmmakers that says he uses the optical illusion of time into the space of 24 frames per second, creating art instead of commodity.
Stopped by fanboys, Manchevski told a student he’d give him tickets for Before the Rain if he wanted to see it, eager for everyone to experience the film. After shaking hands and taking a photo with the moderator, Manchevski was introduced to an Iranian film student outside.
“I watched Before the Rain 10 years ago in an alleyway in Iran and it was incredible,” says the student. Manchevski was fascinated in the anecdote, illustrating that film, particularly his film, didn’t only cross time and space, but borders and barricades. 10 years later, he still has an ability to have a lasting impact on the consciousness of others.
Filmmakers win.
Nirris Nagendrarajah, Staff Writer
Featured image courtesy of Analisa Flori
