The Manakia Brothers. Diary of a Long Look Back

Romania, 2017, 90’
Director and Scriptwriter: Eliza Zdru
Cinematographer: Paula Onet
Producer: Alexandru Teodorescu
Production Company: SAGA Film

A quest to discover the origins of an old photograph takes a winding road in the Balkans and ends up being an introspection on the first images ever filmed in the region. A mysterious photograph of her great grandparents taken in the 1920’s somewhere in the Balkans reminds director Eliza Zdru of two Aromanian photographers, famous in the region at the time – Milton and Ianaki Manakia. Trying to verify the assumption that her great grandparents, also of Aromanian origin, were indeed photographed by the two brothers, she embarks on a journey through Romania – Bulgaria – Macedonia – Greece trying to recompose the life story of the two people, who became the very first filmmakers in the region, devoted documentarists of the most dramatic changes that reshaped the face of the Balkans in the first part of the XX century.

Eliza Zdru

Eliza has a degree in Film and Television Studies (Media University) and a degree in Communication and Public Relations Studies (SNSPA) but her world has been revolving around documentary filmmaking ever since she took part in Aristoteles Workshop in 2011. The Manakia Brothers. Diary of a Long Look Back is Eliza’s second feature documentary. Her first one – Songs for a Museum (63’, 2013, produced by Mandragora, co-produced by Virafilms), a road movie about four 84-year-old polyphonic singers premiered in 2013 at Astra Film Festival in Sibiu, Romania. Her next feature documentary, just like the first two, will also be filmed on the road.

Filmography
Songs for a Museum (2013),
The Manakia Brothers. Diary of a Long Look Back (2017).