Grandma Despina (1905)

Name: Grandma Despina
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1905-11-02

Running Time

Plot.

This scene is a part of the very first film shot produced by the Manaki Brothers. Despina, the Janaki and Milton Manaki's grandmother, was recorded weaving in one high-angle shot. For no apparent reason, the first shot made in Macedonia, in the Balkans in fact, made by these two cinematography pioneers, contains peculiar symbolics: at the moment when the grandmother Despina spins the weaving wheel, film starts rolling in our country.

Where to Watch.

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Cast & Crew.

Baba Despina

Herself

Janaki Manaki

Director

Milton Manaki

Director

Details.

Release Date
November 2, 1905

Original Name
Баба Деспина

Status
Released

Running Time
1m

Genres
Documentary

Last updated: 2025-02-13

This Movie Is About.

silent film

grandmother

Wiki.

The Weavers or Grandmother Despina is a short silent, black and white documentary film made in 1905 by the Balkan film pioneers the Manaki brothers in the small Aromanian village of Avdella (Aromanian: Avdhela), in the Ottoman vilayet of Monastir presently modern Greece. It is about 60 seconds long and depicts the Manakis' aunts and 114-year-old grandmother Despina spinning and weaving. It was originally called "Our 114-year-old grandmother at work weaving", but has come to be known as The Weavers.

It is believed to be the first film shot anywhere in the Ottoman Balkans.

The film was shot with 35 mm film with an Urban Bioscope movie camera (serial number 300) imported from London.