Dzirni Film and Music Festival

Dzirni ('peep in') is a film and music festival happening once a year for a period of ten days. The festival has been held for seven years and its eight edition will take place in October 2026. This festival takes place in the multimedia space of the bar and movie theatre named Kotur, located in the former offices and internal movie theatre of Macedonia Film. Being deeply connected with the domestic cinema, it represents a culturally significant site for the film history of Macedonia. The festival also plays an important role in reviving several public spaces such as Forum Park, Plochnik Square , Squere in front of the hous of ARM etc.
As one of the primary goals of the festival is to utilize public spaces for film screenings or concerts, focusing on neglected yet once-significant areas while attempting to revitalize and rejuvenate them, this year we would like to expand the festival to include several such spaces in the central city area.

Regarding the program activities, the festival features an official International Short Film Selection competing for the Dancho Chevreski Best Short Film Award, National competition for best shor film, International Student competion for bese short student film. . The festival also includes the Kafe i Kromid ('Coffee and Onion') documentary program in collaboration with the MakeDox festival, where a documentary film selected by both festivals will be shown. Another part of it is the Izvor ('Source') programme which highlights Macedonian films of significant cultural value for the development of Macedonian cinematography. Additionally, there is a Student Short Film Programme and a Theatre Programme featuring an original play.

Photo or art exhibitions, installations, and similar events are also a part of the festival. Two to three concerts by Macedonian alternative bands are organized during each festival. Free workshops are also conducted in collaboration with filmmakers, architects, and artists. During last year’s edition the 48 Hours Skopje Film Challenge was organized for the first time in collaboration with the Skopje Film Challenge and Macedonian film director Igor Hristov. The 48 Hours Film Challenge is a platform organized in more than 50 cities worldwide, and last year it was a part of the official programme of DZIRNI05 which took place at Kotur Café and Film. All the contestants who accepted the challenge gathered their teams and created their films within 48 hours. A three-member jury consisting of film professionals decided on the three best films and awarded three prizes. The challenge resulted in ten films which were screened on October 9, 2023, at the KOTUR movie theatre and are currently available on the YouTube channel of the Skopje Film Challenge.

DZIRNI FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL 2024 PROGAMME

FILM PROGRAMME

1.Official Short Film Selection, Dancho Chevreski Best Short Film Award;
2.Kafe i Kromid documentary program in collaboration with the MakeDox creative documentary festival ;
3.Children’s programme in collaboration with the Association of Film Distributors of Macedonia and the private Green House Kindergarten;
4.Student programme of short films;
5.Izvor: Screening of feature Macedonian films of great cultural and historical significance.

*Location of film programme screening: Forum Park, Kotur movie theatre, Plochnik and other public places in the centre of Skopje with the aim of revitalizing neglected public areas and showing their value, as well as demonstrating how they can be used by citizens, especially the young residents of our city.

THEATRE PROGRAM
Venue: Kotur movie theatre
The aim of staging a theatre performance at every edition of Dzirni festival is to support independent theatre production and to provide young theatre artists with a space to express themselves outside the conventional theatres and in front of a different type of audience, in a more intimate atmosphere, while being completely free in their artistic expression.

MUSIC PROGRAMME
Concerts
Some of the concerts will be held in the Kotor movie theatre, but the main concert, as in previous editions of Dzirni, will happen at Plochnik Square and will be free and open to the public. Much the same as with the film programme happening in public spaces, our goal here is to allow young people to enjoy listening to their favourite bands in a public space for free, thus leaving a lasting mark for the public space and their experience in it.
By doing this, we want to enable young people to create an emotional connection with the public spaces in their city, with the ultimate goal of contributing as much as possible to make these public spaces feel like their own and to treat them as such, which is indeed the intended purpose of a public space in a city.

Accompanying Music Program with Music Selection
Venue: Kotur Café and Film

INTERVIEWS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Moderated interviews and conversations with the audience featuring all authors of the submitted short films from the official selection, as well as guests from the accompanying film programmes.
Video recordings of interviews with the film authors and musicians performing at the festival.

WORKSHOPS

1.A 48 Hours Skopje Film Challenge in collaboration with the Skopje Film Challenge and the director Igor Hristov will be organized as a workshop for making a film within 48 hours. Afterwards, the films will be screened in front of an audience and Awards for Best Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing will be presented.
2.Children’s creative workshop will be organized in collaboration with the private Green House Kindergarten which will focus on designing posters for the films that will be part of the children's programme.
3.Architectural Workshop for children aged 7 to 11 years in collaboration with the instructors Milka Cherepnalkovska and Margarita Popovska

*All the workshops will be held in Kotur movie theatre.

EXHIBITION/ART INSTALLATION
*Venue: Kotur Café and Film.

DZIRNI SHOP
Promoting creative craft brands by young people and supporting them by providing a space where they can present and sell their products to a large audience.