On the Occasion of Manaki

A compilation documentary that attempts to reinterpret silent footage by offering an ironic take on Balkan history. This satirical docufiction film showcases the cinematic body of work of the Manaki brothers—the first Balkan cinematographers—spanning the period from 1905 to 1925. It incorporates excerpts from various films, including: *Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat*, *Feeding the Baby*, and *The Sprinkler Sprinkled* by the Lumière brothers (Louis and Auguste); *A Trip to the Moon* by Georges Méliès; wartime newsreels from the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Serbian armies in Macedonia (1914–1918); *Man with a Movie Camera* by Dziga Vertov; *October* by Sergei Eisenstein; *Triumph of the Will* by Leni Riefenstahl; *The Salonika Assassins* by Žika Mitrović; and *Cinema Paradiso* by Giuseppe Tornatore.