Manakis brothers
Encyclopedia
The brothers Ianachia (Avdella
, 1878 – Thessaloniki
, 1954) and Milton Manachia (Avdella
, 1882 – Bitola
, 1964) were pioneering photographers and filmmakers in the Balkans. In 1905
they filmed the first motion pictures in the Balkans in Ottoman Monastir
(modern Bitola
, Republic of Macedonia
). In honor of their work, the International Cinematographers' Film Festival "Manaki Brothers" is held every year in Bitola, the city where they were most famous . In total, they took over 17,300 photographs in 120 localities.
names are Ianaki and Milto Manaki or Manakia. They are also refer to using the Macedonian
(Јанаки and Милтон Манаки) and Greek
(Γιαννάκης and Μιλτιάδης Μανάκιας) variants of their names. Collectively they are called "the Manaki brothers" or less commonly "the Manakis brothers".
village of Avdella
(modern Αβδέλλα
, Greece
), in the Ottoman
vilayet of Monastir.
In 1905, they purchased a Bioscope camera in London
and used it to capture a variety of subjects: their 114 year old grandmother spinning
wool in Avdela; visits by government officials to Monastir, including Sultan Mehmed V (1911), King Peter
and Prince Alexander
of Serbia
(1913), and King Constantine
and Prince Paul
of Greece
(1918); local festivals and weddings; and revolutionary activities. They opened the first cinema
in Bitola, first open-air (1921), then covered (1923). Their archive of film footage was deposited in the State Archive of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1955, and transferred to the Cinémathèque of the Yugoslav
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
in 1976. The annual Manaki Brothers International Film Camera Festival, commemorating them, is held in Bitola. The plot of Theo Angelopoulos
's film Ulysses' Gaze
revolves around the fictional and metaphoric quest for a lost, undeveloped reel of film taken by the Manakis brothers before the Balkans
were split by the forces of nationalism
. It opens with the images of their grandmother spinning wool.
Total length of the clips filmed by the Manakis is about one and half hour.
Avdella
Avdella is a village and a former municipality in Grevena peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Grevena, of which it is a municipal unit. It is a seasonal Vlach village in the Pindus mountains, at 1250–1350 metres altitude...
, 1878 – Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, 1954) and Milton Manachia (Avdella
Avdella
Avdella is a village and a former municipality in Grevena peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Grevena, of which it is a municipal unit. It is a seasonal Vlach village in the Pindus mountains, at 1250–1350 metres altitude...
, 1882 – Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
, 1964) were pioneering photographers and filmmakers in the Balkans. In 1905
1905 in film
The year 1905 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Pathé Frères colors black-and-white films by machine.*Filmmaking takes an unexpected historical role by recording activities along Market Street, in the year preceding the destruction from the San Francisco earthquake of 1906...
they filmed the first motion pictures in the Balkans in Ottoman Monastir
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
(modern Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
, Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
). In honor of their work, the International Cinematographers' Film Festival "Manaki Brothers" is held every year in Bitola, the city where they were most famous . In total, they took over 17,300 photographs in 120 localities.
Names
The brothers' native AromanianAromanian language
Aromanian , also known as Macedo-Romanian, Arumanian or Vlach is an Eastern Romance language spoken in Southeastern Europe...
names are Ianaki and Milto Manaki or Manakia. They are also refer to using the Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
(Јанаки and Милтон Манаки) and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
(Γιαννάκης and Μιλτιάδης Μανάκιας) variants of their names. Collectively they are called "the Manaki brothers" or less commonly "the Manakis brothers".
Biography
Ianaki and Milto Manakia were born in 1878 and 1882 in the small AromanianAromanians
Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
village of Avdella
Avdella
Avdella is a village and a former municipality in Grevena peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Grevena, of which it is a municipal unit. It is a seasonal Vlach village in the Pindus mountains, at 1250–1350 metres altitude...
(modern Αβδέλλα
Avdella
Avdella is a village and a former municipality in Grevena peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Grevena, of which it is a municipal unit. It is a seasonal Vlach village in the Pindus mountains, at 1250–1350 metres altitude...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
), in the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
vilayet of Monastir.
In 1905, they purchased a Bioscope camera in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and used it to capture a variety of subjects: their 114 year old grandmother spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
wool in Avdela; visits by government officials to Monastir, including Sultan Mehmed V (1911), King Peter
Peter I of Yugoslavia
Peter I , was the King of Serbia from 1903 to 1918, and subsequently the ruler of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes . He was a member of the Royal House of Karađorđević...
and Prince Alexander
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
(1913), and King Constantine
Constantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...
and Prince Paul
Paul of Greece
Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....
of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
(1918); local festivals and weddings; and revolutionary activities. They opened the first cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
in Bitola, first open-air (1921), then covered (1923). Their archive of film footage was deposited in the State Archive of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1955, and transferred to the Cinémathèque of the Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
in 1976. The annual Manaki Brothers International Film Camera Festival, commemorating them, is held in Bitola. The plot of Theo Angelopoulos
Theo Angelopoulos
Theodoros Angelopoulos is a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer.-Life:Angelopoulos studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, but after his military service went to Paris to attend the Sorbonne. He soon dropped out to study film at the IDHEC before returning...
's film Ulysses' Gaze
Ulysses' Gaze
Ulysses' Gaze is a 1995 Greek film directed by Theo Angelopoulos. The actor Gian Maria Volonté died during the filming. He was replaced by Erland Josephson.-Plot:...
revolves around the fictional and metaphoric quest for a lost, undeveloped reel of film taken by the Manakis brothers before the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
were split by the forces of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
. It opens with the images of their grandmother spinning wool.
Filmography
- 1918 - Welcoming of the Greek King and Heir to the Throne Paul by General Bojovic, in Bitola
- 1911 - The Funeral of the Metropolitan Aimilianos of Gravena
- 1911 - Welcoming of Sultan Mehmed V Reshad, in Bitola
- 1908 - Greeting of Second Constitutional Era, in Bitola
- 1905 - Spinning Women (Avdela)
Total length of the clips filmed by the Manakis is about one and half hour.