This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CDThieme (talk | contribs) at 00:03, 28 December 2005 (and your explanation was not accepted on talk, so don't just keep reverting). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 00:03, 28 December 2005 by CDThieme (talk | contribs) (and your explanation was not accepted on talk, so don't just keep reverting)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Manakis brothers, Yannis (1878-1960) and Miltiadis (1882-1964) (Greek: Γιάννης and Μιλτιάδης Μανάκια), were Ottoman photographers born in the small Vlach village of Avdela, near Grevena. They made the first motion pictures in the Balkans in Monastir (now Bitola) in 1905. They were born in the village of Avdela, near Grevena. They are also referred to as the Manakia or Manaki brothers.
From 1898 to 1904, they operated a photographic studio in Ioannina. In 1905, they moved their business to Monastir. In total, they took over 17,300 photographs in 120 localities.
In 1905, they purchased a Bioscope camera in London and used it to capture a variety of subjects: from their grandmother spinning wool, to visits by government officials, local festivals, and the Ilinden uprising.
They opened the first cinema in Bitola, first open-air (1921), then covered (1923).
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 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.