SKOPJE: Acclaimed Macedonian director Milcho Manchevski’s documentary Good People / Dobri lugje will have its world premiere in the Competition Programme – Documentary Film of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival (14 – 21 August 2026).
The 86-minute documentary traces with austere restraint the aftermath of a nightclub fire in North Macedonia that claimed 63 young lives, rendering its survivors and quiet heroes not as symbols but as people aching, enduring, and profoundly real. What begins as a reckoning with catastrophe becomes, almost imperceptibly, a study in resilience, a testament to the fragile but persistent power of hope.
“My first thought was about the victims, the survivors and the heroes, about how none of us can fully feel the magnitude of this pain. I wanted to hear the most affected, to give a voice to the good people. We started filming them right away, just a month after the tragedy. It was the least we could offer as a sign of immense respect and solidarity. This film is theirs. We discreetly shaped the story of that tragic night, without any superfluous cinematic interventions. This spartan, minimalist technique is something that brings the viewer closer to the lived experience,” said Manchevski in a statement.
He completed Good People almost at the same time as his fiction feature Sister Brother Manhole Cover, calling the overlap unusual but personally satisfying after years in which he says he was blacklisted by the Macedonian government.
Manchevski produced and financed the film with his own funds through Banana Film and in cooperation with Support Kochani. Tatjana Kjurchinska-Pepeljugoska and Ludovico Cantisani are its executive producers.
The director, producers and distributor (Banana Film) have waived their profit, and all proceeds from ticket sales will go to the victims in Kochani.
After its world premiere in Sarajevo, the documentary is expected to continue its festival run across the region, with autumn screenings planned in Turin and New York.
Sister Brother Manhole Cover was produced by Banana Film (North Macedonia) in coproduction with Gala Film (Bulgaria), Sense Production (Serbia), Tirana Film Institute (Albania), Berkeley Media Group (UK) and Amarcord Production, in association with Augustus Color (Italy)
Production Information:
Producer:
Banana Film (North Macedonia)
Milcho Manchevski: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Credits:
Director: Milcho Manchevski
Screenwriter: Milcho Manchevski
DoP: Ivan Ivanovski
Editor: Mishko Chunikhin
Music: Igor Vasilev Novogradska
