Special guests of honour were General Consul for the RM in Melbourne Mr Savo Sibinoski and Australian representative MP in Macedonia, Mr Milorad Dodevski (who traveled all the way from Macedonia to be with us). The Consul officially opened the festival and thanked the festival director, Mr Sotir Stojcevski, and the handful of committee members and volunteers that worked tirelessly in organising this years festival.

The festival director presented a plaque to the Consul as a token of our appreciation for all the ongoing support provided to realise the third successful Macedonian Film Festival.

MC Sam McCool entertains the audience.

Opening night host MC Sam McCool was a favourite amongst the guests and now considers himself 'an honorary Macedonian'. Two local emerging directors films kicked off the night of viewing and were highly praised by the audience applauding at the end of each short film. Anton Blajer's "God's Fools" began the nights films, followed by Goran Stolevski's "Picture of a Good Woman". Both Anton and Goran were in attendance accompanied by guests, crew and cast from their films.

Milorad Dodevski addressing the audience.

At the conclusion of the screenings, over 200 guests packed into Equinox bar at Melbourne Central for an after party to celebrate the successful opening. Guests rocked out to live music by Macedonian rock band PARAHOD who kept the party going until the early hours of the night.

The MFF committee would like to thank everyone that made the opening such a success, including sponsors, supporters, volunteers and of course all the patrons that come out to see the wonderful films produced by Macedonians.

Melbourne also included three other screenings over the course of the three-day festival. These included Hoyts Highpoint, Hoyts Northland and Hoyts Melbourne Central which saw record numbers of patrons attending.

The Macedonian Film Festival will run from 21st October until 20th November 2011.
See the program for Canberra, Newcastle, Auckland and Sydney.

Thank you to the following for your contribution to the success of opening night:

Guests enjoying the party.

• Venue - Hoyts Management – (Peter and Carly)
• Catering - Skara - The Mediterranean Kitchen & Catering Company
• Wines - Corkscrew Wines
• Drinks - Gazoza
• Music - Parahod
• Photos - Astir Images
• Video - Couch Media