SKOPJE: Kiril Cenevski, a unique figure in Macedonian filmmaking, director and screenwriter, the former chairman of the Union of Macedonian Film Workers and the creator of the first Macedonian feature film to have competed and won awards at international film festivals, Black Seed / Crno Seme, died in Skopje on 17 June 2019.

SKOPJE: More domestic films were released in Macedonian cinemas in 2018, but admissions to domestic films dropped drastically from 17,494 in 2017 to 7,704 in 2018. Compared to 2017, when the admissions were 17,494 and the box office was 29,746 EUR gross, there is a decrease by 125 percent and by 117 percent, respectively.

SKOPJE: The Macedonian/Serbian debut feature Second Chance / Vtora shansa directed by Marija Dzidzeva and produced with support from the North Macedonia Film Agency and Film Center Serbia, will have its world premiere at the opening of the 22nd edition of the Skopje Film Festival, set to take place in Skopje from 17 to 25 April 2019. This is the first time that the festival will open with a film by a female director.

SKOPJE: The Macedonian/Kosovan/Albanian feature film An Unforgettable Spring in Forgotten Village / Nezaboravna prolet vo zaboraveno selo by Kushtrim Bekteshi will premiere in Macedonia on 29 March 2019. Macedonian producer Sasho Pavlovski from the Skopje-based Manufaktura Production coproduced the film together with Albanian Ska-ndal Production, Kosovan Media&Film and Macedonian Skupi Festival.

SKOPJE: Macedonian director Igor Ivanov started shooting his new feature film Homo as a coproduction between Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia and Kosovo on 13 March 2019. A five-week shooting schedule is planned, including more than 20 locations in Skopje.

SKOPJE: Teona Strugar Mitevska’s fifth feature film God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija / Gospod postoi, imeto i' e Petrunija has been sold by Pyramide International to Turkey, Greece, Sweden, Brazil, Romania, Poland, Hungary, China, Canada, Colombia, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Spain and Switzerland.

SKOPJE: The Macedonian/Greek coproduction The Secret Ingredient, the debut feature by Gjorce Stavreski, will premiere in Australia. Pay TV, VOD and SVOD rights were sold to the Australian national television channel SBS Australia.

SKOPJE: The Macedonian documentary Honeyland directed by Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska was sold by Submarine Entertainment to US distribution outfit Neon. No release date has been set yet.

Macedonia saw a quieter year in 2018, but it was still a good year with international success of both feature films and documentaries, a film agency effectively supporting the development and production of numerous quality films, a growing number of coproductions and increased box office results.

SKOPJE: The Macedonian Film Agency distributed 1,694,308 EUR / 104,200,000 MKD to five feature films, including two feature films with higher budgets, one debut feature and two minority feature films with lower budgets, within the second deadline in 2018 for production grants for feature, short, animated films and documentaries.