SKOPJE: The 11th MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival will hold its first hybrid edition from 19 to 26 August 2020 under the motto "Merge with Silence". The films and content will be available in two open-air cinemas and online and on-demand. This is the first time the festival will be using a virtual platform.

SKOPJE: Macedonian film production is making a strong comeback after the pandemic lockdown with the start of the shooting of the domestic feature Sabattier Effect / Preeksponirano by Eleonora Veninova on 30 June 2020.

SKOPJE: The North Macedonia Film Agency distributed 2,889,430 EUR / 177,700,000 MKD for production grants for feature, short, animation films and documentaries in the first grant call of 2020. The Agency supported six majority feature films including four debuts, three minority coproductions, four majority long documentaries, one minority long documentary, one minority long animation and five short films.

SKOPJE: Open-air film theatres in Skopje have opened their doors to the public following the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions, while regular indoor cinemas are still under COVID-19 restrictions.

SKOPJE: Film production activity remains at a standstill due to a rise in COVID-19, with several productions on hold indefinitely as the number of new coronavirus cases in North Macedonia has increased drastically in the last few days, with several government officials in self-isolation.

SKOPJE: The most successful Macedonian documentary Honeyland / Medena zemja will have an early television premiere on Telma TV on 18 April 2020, in time for the Orthodox Easter holiday. The first and exclusive television screening comes ahead of schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic, disrupting the 2-year TV holdback. The film was nominated for two Oscars.

SKOPJE: The North Macedonia Film Agency gave emergency financial support to 27 projects which are in the final stages of production from the annual budget in the last two days as a first urgent measure to assist independent filmmakers and production companies. Together with the Macedonian Film Professionals Association, the Agency has set up a commission to establish standards based on which filmmakers will receive further necessary assistance.

SKOPJE: All cinemas in North Macedonia are closed until 24 March 2020 as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, with the only multiplex cinema Cineplexx also announcing the decision to close its doors on 11 March 2020. The 23rd edition of the Skopje Film Festival, due to take place in April, has been rescheduled for 9-17 September 2020.

SKOPJE: North Macedonia’s Oscar-nominated documentary Honeyland / Medena zemja by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov will be released by Umbrella Films in Australia and New Zealand from 5 March 2020.