Rules and Regulations
46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS (September 20 – 26, 2025)
I Introduction
Article I.1 General
The International Cinematographers’ Film Festival MANAKI BROTHERS (hereafter “Festival”) is a specialized film festival dedicated to the art, craft, and creativity of cinematographers. The Festival aims to contribute to the development and promotion of cinematic art, cinematic culture, and film industries.
Article I.2 Organizers
The Festival is organized by the Macedonian Film Professionals Association, registration number 4085051, located at:
Ul. 8-mi Mart Br. 4, 1000 Skopje, N. Macedonia
+389 2 6164 431
office@manaki.com.mk
Article I.3 Festival dates
46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS will take place in Bitola from September 20 to September 26, 2025.
II Program
Article II.1 Program sections
The Festival program includes 4 competitive sections:
OFFICIAL SELECTION CAMERA 300
- An international competition of feature-length narrative films presented as Macedonian premieres only;
- Films must be at least 70 minutes in length;
- Films must be Macedonian premieres to be considered for selection.
- Film must be released in the past 12 months
DOCUMENTARY FILMS COMPETITION
- An international competition of shorts and feature-length documentary films presented as Macedonian premieres only;
- Films must be Macedonian premieres to be considered for selection.
- Film must be released in the past 12 months
SHORT FILMS COMPETITION
- An international competition of short narrative films presented as Macedonian premieres only;
- Films must be under 40 minutes in length;
- Films must be Macedonian premieres to be considered for selection.
- Film must be released in the past 12 months
STUDENT FILMS COMPETITION
- An international competition of short narrative and documentary student films presented as Macedonian premieres only;
- Films must be under 26 minutes in length;
- Films must be Macedonian premieres to be considered for selection.
The Festival program also may include non-competitive sections, focuses, retrospectives, tributes, and screenings honoring the laureates.
III Film pre-selection (submission guidelines)
Article III.1 Submitters
The person submitting the film (hereafter “Submitter”) acknowledges that he or she has obtained consent from any and all authorized representatives of the film to submit the film to the 46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS. The film should be entered online at https://www.FilmFreeway.com/ManakiBrothers.
The Submitter acknowledges that the submitted film to the 46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS has not been screened by any other film festival in N. Macedonia prior to the dates of the Festival.
Article III.2 Selection Committee
Film selection is carried out by a commission of programmers functioning as an advisory body to the Festival Director and together they form the Selection Committee.
The Festival Director and the programmers must not have participated in the making or commercial exploitation of any film in the competition they are programming.
Article III.3 Films eligible for open submissions
Production of films submitted for participation must have been completed within 18 months prior to the dates of the Festival.
Films that have been submitted for Festival consideration in previous years are eligible for submission to the 46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS only if the film has undergone significant changes since it was last submitted. The Festival reserves the right to refuse a previously submitted film without refunding the submission fee collected from the Submitter.
Article III.4 Preview screeners
Only online screeners are accepted as preview screeners for pre-selection. DVD, Blu-ray, DCP, and other formats are not accepted.
An online screener must be valid (with the same password) until August 30th 2025.
The Festival reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of the submission fee, any film whose initially submitted online screener cannot be accessed or whose password is not valid.
Article III.5 Language version of preview screeners
Films submitted for pre-selection must be presented in their original language version with English subtitles.
Article III.6 Submission fee
Submission is subject to a submission fee. Submitter must:
- fill out the online film entry form;
- pay the appropriate fee.
The submission fees for the Official Selection Camera 300 competition are:
- $30 per early bird submission (by May 15, 2025)
- $35 per regular submission (May 16th, 2025 – June 5th, 2025)
- $40 per late submission (June 6th – June 27, 2025)
The submission fees for the Documentary Films Competition are:
- $15 per early bird submission (by May 15th, 2025)
- $20 per regular submission (May 16th – June 5th, 2025)
- $25 per late submission (June 6th – June 27th, 2025)
The submission fees for the Short Films Competition are:
- $12 per early bird submission (by May 15th, 2025)
- $15 per regular submission (May 16th, 2025 – June 5th, 2025)
- $20 per late submission (June 6th – June 27th, 2025)
The submission fees for the Student Films Competition are:
- $3 per early bird submission (by May 15th, 2025)
- $5 per regular submission (May 16th, 2025 – June 5th, 2025)
- $7 per late submission (June 6th – June 27th, 2025)
Submission and payment must be carried out on the FilmFreeway website https://www.FilmFreeway.com/ManakiBrothers.
Article III.7 Festival’s selection process
The Festival is under no obligation to provide to the Submitter: any comments or feedback regarding his or her submitted films; any information relating to the manner in which the submitted films are, will be, or were considered and reviewed; any reasons why the submitted film, should it not be accepted for exhibition at the Festival, was not accepted; or any other information relating to the Festival’s selection process.
The Festival disavows any responsibility for: the manner in which the submitted films are, will be, or were considered by the Selection Committee and/or its consultants; the contents of any internal comments or feedback regarding any submitted films that are or may be obtained by the Submitter; any communications by any representative of the Festival relating to the selection process.
IV Selected films
Article IV.1 Participants’ obligation
No film that has been selected may be withdrawn from the Festival program after its participation has been officially confirmed by the producer, the world sales company, the rights holder and/or any other representative (hereafter “Participant”).
Unless negotiated otherwise, Participants agree that the cinematographers of the selected films in the Documentary Films Competition, Short Films Competition, and Student Films Competition, will attend the festival, will be available for Q&A sessions after the film screenings, and will be available for news conferences the following day after the film screenings.
The costs related to travel and accommodation for the attending cinematographers of the selected films are the responsibility of the Festival.
Article IV.2 News embargo
The invitation sent for each film selected by the Festival must remain strictly confidential between the Festival management and the Participant until such time as the Festival decides to make an official announcement in this regard.
Article IV.3 Requested materials
All contact persons of selected films will receive a request for detailed documentation upon confirming participation in the Festival. The Festival accepts no liability for reproducing in its publications inaccuracies in materials provided by the Participant.
Article IV.4 Program schedule
The Festival, under the supervision of the Festival Director, determines the program schedule and sets the screening order for all films. Throughout the Festival, each film in the program may have up to 3 (three) screenings, including those reserved for film professionals and journalists.
Article IV.5 Screening format
Films selected for presentation at the Festival are screened from DCPs, unless negotiated otherwise with the Participant.
Participants are responsible for providing all screening copies of selected films (non-English language) with English subtitles. All films will also be subtitled into Macedonian; the production and presentation of Macedonian electronic subtitles is a responsibility of the Festival.
Article IV.6 Shipping
Screening copies of selected films, all with English subtitles, must be received by the Festival by August 1st, 2025. Participants must follow the shipping instructions of the Festival.
Unless negotiated otherwise, screening copies must be made available for the duration of the 46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS. The Festival reserves the right to reject film copies deemed unsuitable for screening by its technicians.
Article IV.7 DCPs
Films’ DCPs (Digital Cinema Package) must be shipped online, encoded following DCI or SMPTE standards. These standards, among other specifications, restrict the DCP as follows:
- image compression: JPEG 2000,
- sound: 5.1 or 7.1,
- frame rate: 24 or 25 fps.
The Festival strongly prefers receiving a non-encrypted DCP. For any encrypted DCP, the Festival Shipping Department will request 3 (three) KDMs for all playback servers in use at the Festival from September 20 to September 26, 2025.
The Festival does not pay any technical, administrative, shipping, and other costs related to DCP’s delivery and KDMs’ creation.
V Official awards and juries
Article V.1 General rules
International juries will consist of prominent representatives from the fields of cinematography, culture, film theory, and film journalism, as well as filmmakers and producers. Three international juries will be established by the Festival management:
- one for the Official Selection Camera 300 competition;
- one for the Short Films Competition and Student Films Competition.
The members of juries must not have participated in the making or commercial exploitation of any film in the competition they are judging. Jury members are sworn to secrecy.
The Festival Director and/or his representative may attend jury deliberations but will take no part in the voting.
The decisions of the official juries are final.
Article V.2 Official Selection Camera 300 competition
The international Official Selection Camera 300 competition Jury judging films in the Official Selection Camera 300 competition will award the following awards:
- Golden Camera 300 Award for Best Cinematography (this award may not be conferred ex-aequo)
- Silver Camera 300 Award for Cinematography (this award may not be conferred ex-aequo)
- Bronze Camera 300 Award for Cinematography (this award may not be conferred ex-aequo)
The Official Selection Camera 300 competition Jury may award up to a maximum of one Special Jury Mention, the nature of which will be clearly defined by the jury.
Article V.3 Documentary Films Competition
Documentary Films Competition Jury judging films in the Documentary Films Competition will award the following awards:
- Iron Camera 300 Award for Best Cinematography (Documentary Films Competition)
Documentary Films Competition Jury may award up to a maximum of two Special Jury Mentions, the nature of which will be clearly defined by the jury.
Article V.4 Short Films Competition and Student Films Competition
The international Short Films Competition and Student Films Competition Jury judging films in the Short Films Competition and Student Films Competition will award the following awards:
- Small Camera 300 Award for Best Cinematography (Short Films Competition)
- Crystal Camera 300 Award for Best Cinematography (Student Films Competition)
The Short Films Competition and Student Films Competition Jury may award up to a maximum of two Special Jury Mentions, up to a maximum of one per each competition, the nature of which will be clearly defined by the jury.
VI Conclusion
Article VI.1
A film’s entry and participation in the Festival implies agreement with the Rules and Regulations set out herein.
Article VI.2
In the event of unclear situations or in cases not foreseen by these regulations, the Festival Director of the 46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS makes final decisions in line with FIAPF Regulations for International Film Festivals. The management of the Festival is the ultimate authority to resolve all issues arising from the interpretation of these Rules and Regulations.
Dimitrija Doksevski, Festival Director
46th ICFF MANAKI BROTHERS
