By Mark Worth

Coalition Co-coordinator

Milcho Manchevski is accustomed to walking down red carpets. Over his 30-year career, the Macedonian director and writer has been nominated for an Academy Award, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and was named best director at Raindance. At its world premiere, his latest work Kaymak was nominated for best film at the 2022 Tokyo International Film Festival.

In his home country, however, red carpets have been replaced by rocky roads.

Manchevski says he is being targeted for retaliation because he exposed financial irregularies and conflicts of interest within North Macedonia’s Film Agency. Ironically, this is very public agency that helped Manchevski produce his classic 1994 debut, Before the Rain, which made him a star overnight and gave Macedonia its first-ever Oscar nomination.

Manchevski says he has uncovered a network of public officials, political party leaders and film executives that relies on corruption and persecution to control and rig the public financing of films.

“I learned about the structure of what happens inside the government and the film mafia: major kickbacks for every single project, fixed competitions, and state funds going to projects that do not deserve it by any criteria,” says Manchevski. “The kickbacks are usually 30 percent. They share the money with high-up people in political parties.”

The evidence of misconduct Manchevski found has been substantiated by the Ministry of Culture, State Audit Office, and State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, as well as Transparency International (TI) Macedonia. The “illegality and conflict of interest still persist,” TI has concluded. Yet, Manchevski is the only person facing legal action.

Dual Roles: Household Name and Common Criminal

Manchevski is a household name in North Macedonia and prominent internationally. His films have won 90 awards, and have been distributed in more than 100 countries and screened at more than 350 festivals. He holds an honorary doctorate and has taught at film schools in Europe, Asia and the US. He has published essays, exhibited his photography and directed music videos. He’s been good for the Macedonian economy, bringing in €17 million in foreign investment to the country’s film industry.

Despite his stature, Manchevski says he is being treated like a common criminal. The Film Agency convinced the Culture Ministry to investigate his finances, going back many years to probe long-finished films. Even though no problems were found, the Film Agency filed a criminal complaint against him. The Southeast Europe Coalition on Whistleblower Protection attempted to reach Film Agency Executive Director Bojan Lazarevski for an interview, but he did not respond.

This was just the beginning. Manchevski said the Film Agency is refusing to sign a contract for an ongoing film production that it already approved. And he said the Agency is refusing to provide agreed-upon €140,000 in funding for the completed Kaymak, which the Culture Ministry said is illegal. Following its own investigation, TI determined the Film Agency’s actions to be “vengeful.”

Manchevski says his recent films have received less funding than those made by first-time directors, he says. “All my films receive less money from the Macedonian government than the sons of Macedonian directors, police chiefs and former government spokesmen.”

Media outlets controlled by the ruling Social Democratic Union party (SDSM) have orchestrated a months-long smear campaign that he says is “brimming with lies and slander.”

“This has been disappointing but not surprising. I knew they would try things but I didn’t think they would be so unscrupulous,” he said. “Filmmakers are scared. If this sort of persecution can happen to me, who has significant international credentials, what should the younger or less prominent filmmakers expect? They fear for their careers and livelihoods.”

As a sign of international support, the Venice Film Festival issued a letter of support for Manchevski: “We are extremely sorry to hear that you are facing a massive political defamation campaign, personal threats, and political and professional blacklisting. [We are] astonished that your courageous denunciation of the irregularities committed by the [Film Agency] was followed by an unbelievable ostracism campaign and the continued hostility of the agency whose misbehaviour has, moreover, been acknowledged.”