Milton Manaki(1882-1964)
- Director
- Cinematographer
The creative work of the brothers Janaqi (1878-1954) and Milto
(1880-1964) Manaki, the first cameramen on the Balkans, is undoubtedly
rich and significant. The cinematographic history of Albania and
Macedonia started with them, marking its most important basic values.
The Manaki Brothers were born in a small Albanian village Avdela near
the town Grevena (Konica area-Greece). They started to work together in
1898. During this time Janaqi was a drawing professor in the high
school in Yanina, where he opened his photo studio and had his younger
brother Milto study photography. In 1904, the Manaki brothers decided
to live in Manastir, so that was Milto's "last stop", because in that
period Manastir was an important political, economic and cultural
center for the Balkans. In 1905 they moved their studio to Manastir and
opened their well known "Studio for art photography". He later returned
to London and bought a camera from the Charles Urban Trading Co. It was
the 300th camera from the "Bioscope" series, thus with that famous
Camera 300 started the life of the Albanian and Macedonian
cinematography on the Balkans.
