International Film Editing Festival kicks off in Skopje

Cinematic, the International Film Editing Festival organized by the Association of Filmmakers and Television Professionals of Macedonia and funded by the Macedonian Film Agency, will kick off at the cinema Millenium theater on Thursday at 8 pm. The festival will open with the Macedonian premiere of the Albanian-Italian-Macedonian co-production “Broken,” directed by Edmond Budina.

The three-day festival will focus on the work of editors, honoring them and attempting to reward them with a well-deserved place among international film artists.

“Some say,” the organizer writes, “that movies are made three times: on paper, during filming, and during editing. The editor sets the tone and the pace, dictated by the order of the takes and the story’s timing. They say a good cut should be invisible. This is a question of judgment. The makers of those cuts and the rules of their art, however, should never be rendered invisible.”

The festival will present editors with lifetime achievement awards. A selection of movies they have edited will be shown, and there will be a chance for the audience to ask the festival laureate questions about the specifics of their style and their work over the years.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Editing will be given to Andrija Zafranović at the Cinematheque of Macedonia on Friday at 8 pm. In his honor, there will be a screening of “The Constitution,” directed by Rajko Grlić. Earlier the same day, Zafranović will give a master class at the Faculty for Dramatic Arts in Skopje at 11 am.

Along with “Broken” and “The Constitution,” the official festival program includes four other films: “Kharms,” directed by Ivan Bolotnikov; “Summer 1993,” directed by Carla Simon; “Millenials,” directed by Jana Bürgelin, and “Center of My World,” directed by Jakob Erwa.

A three-member jury – Mile Petkovski, chair; Blagoja Nedelkovski, and Vančo Mirakovski, members – will decide who wins The Golden Cut, the award for best film editor.