The fifth film and music festival "Zirni" will be held in "Kotur" and "Park Forum" coffee and film from October 1 to 10. The new edition continues its distinctive concept of a "cocktail" of films and a carefully selected music program.

This year the festival will be upgraded with new contents, with the ambition to grow into a gathering place for all Skopje (and Macedonian), young (and older) film lovers.

The festival takes on a competitive character. The short films from the official selection will compete for the "Dancho Chevreski" best film award. The prize will be awarded by a three-member jury composed of Macedonian directors Marija Apchevska, Ivica Dimitrijević and Sasha Stanisić.

The official selection is a kind of review of the latest production of Macedonian short films. The selection is diverse and includes films that experiment with form and film medium ("Woman: Three Essential Questions" by Jana Lulovska and "Passion for Wandering" by Leona Jarić); films that play with genres in a postmodern manner ("Scenarioto" by Aleksandra Kardalevska and "4891" by Ivana Mirchevska); films that treat our chaotic Macedonian reality and the moral dilemmas arising from it ("One Ton of Ice Cream" by Sandra Gjordjieva, "Boxes" by Angela Dimeska, "Mavera" by Batuhan Ibrahim); and films that tell a simple love story from the past ("Tak-Tak" by Yane Altiparmakov).

This year, the festival will also feature screenings of two documentaries from the region. Mila Turajlic's The Unbound: Scenes from the Labudovic Fund is an archival road trip through the birth of the Unbound project based on never-before-seen 35mm footage shot by Stevan Labudovic, the cameraman of Yugoslav President Tito.

"The Adventures of the Caricature" by Vera Vlaić is a film where, by interpreting the historical events from the middle of the 19th to the beginning of the 21st century, using the language of the animated film and its artistic connection with the caricature, an overview of the authors who contributed to the development of caricature as art in Serbian culture. As a parallel, the short film "Resistance" by Boro Pejchinov, a masterpiece of the Macedonian animated film, will be shown.

- We will also have a screening of "Tattooing" by Stole Popov, one of the most famous Macedonian films. If we can say about a Macedonian film that it is cult, it is "Tattooing". A film that still reflects our modern times, with lines that have become part of the Skopje slang - "Kotur" points out.

The program of the first day of Žirni, on October 1, includes a concert in the courtyard with Ivan Bejkov on bass, Boran Petkov on gamba guitar, Ivo Soldatović on clarinet and Slavco Kocev on drums, which took place at noon. The evening segment features Igor Hristov's documentary photo exhibition with 25 works photographed in Thailand, Peru and Ecuador entitled "Sleepers sleep, only dreamers dream" and a music selection by Nastasja Kish.