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    • New Talents Open Call
      Eastern Neighbours Film Festival (ENFF) began in The Netherlands in 2008 with the idea to offer Dutch and international audiences a unique glimpse into the cinema of their neighbors from Eastern and Southern Europe. This annual event presents the most recent, exciting, and thought‐provoking films, from countries with small, but often powerful film industries, that… Read more: New Talents Open Call
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      Unable To attend the festival in person? No problem! From November 27th to December 3rd, we’re thrilled to bring you a curated selection of this year’s films available for online viewing! Catch our captivating Opening Film Ivan’s Land, or the touching Closing Film Seventh Heaven. Or explore a collection of shorts from the New Talents Competition! Follow along… Read more: ENFF 2023 On Demand!
    • What’s up in Slovak Cinema? A conversation with Monika Lostakova
      We talked with Monika Lošťáková about contemporary Slovak cinema.
    • ENFF and the Eastern European Film Festival Network!
      The Eastern European Film Festival Network brings together five film festivals dedicated to promoting and showcasing Eastern European cinema, alongside one partner organisation.
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      Through these masterclasses we approach two memory in film from different angles: memories from a personal or collective recollection through archive material.
    • Work in Progress
      In Work in Progress, emerging filmmakers and artists will present their works in development to the audience and engage in discussions with Dutch experts.
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    • Music at ENFF
      Every year, ENFF brings special musical guests who bring beauty to the program and further represent the rich cultures of their countries to a Dutch audience.
    • Film Marathon
      Join us for the Film Marathon, a new concept in which we merge two components, Short Films, Big Stories, and New Talents Competition into a whole-day screening of short films!

The Secret Ingredient

DirectorGjorce Stavreski
ProducerGjorce Stavreski – Fragment Film; Konstantina Stavrianou, Irini Vougioukalou – Graal S.A.
CastBlagoj Veselinov, Anastas Tanovski, Aksel Mehmet, Aleksandar Mikic, Miroslav Petkovic, Dime Iliev
WriterGjorce Stavreski
EditorMartin Ivanov
CameraDejan Dimeski
MusicBranislav Nikolov, Pece Trajkovski, Goce Jovanoski
Original TitleISCELITEL
Year2017
Length102 min
CountryMacedonia, Greece
SubtitlesEnglish
SectionEXCITING, CURRENT CINEMA
ScreeningFriday 9 November | 21:45 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag

‘’Tragicomic gem that could well end up charming its way into niche distribution beyond the festival circuit.’’ – The Hollywood Reporter. The screening will be followed by Q&A with the director Gjorce Stavreski. Dutch Premiere

Synopsis

Social distress, economic hardship, attempted suicide, family tragedy, illegal drugs, violent thugs and late-stage, metastasized lung cancer are the ingredients of this intriguing debut film about good intentions going really bad. The story follows Vele, an underpaid train mechanic who uses stolen marijuana to make a cake for his father to relieve his cancer pain. Suddenly, he finds himself cornered by the criminals who want their drugs back and the nosy neighbours who want the recipe for the “healing cake”. Expecting the worst, all of sudden an actual miracle occurs… This fantastic black comedy is Macedonia’s submission for the Oscars.

Festivals & Awards (selection)

LET’S CEE, 2018 – Best Debut Film | Sofia IFF, 2018 – Special Mention | Santa Barbara IFF, 2018 – Best International Feature | Aubagne IFF, 2018 – Best Feature Film | Bergamo Film Meeting, 2018 – Best Film | Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2017 – Audience Award | Tallinn Black Nights FF, 2017

Director’s bio

Gjorce Stavreski graduated from the department of film direction at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje. He is an awarded film and video professional who has made films, documentaries and over 100 commercials, working as director, producer and screenwriter. His films were shown on many festivals throughout the world where he has won international awards. He was a math prodigy as a kid and is a recipient of a prestigious national award “13th of November” for math and sciences.