Oscar winner Wally Pfister swaps his camera for a guitar: rock evening in front of the Officers’ House in Bitola

Last night (September 24, 2026), in front of the Officers’ House in Bitola, American cinematographer and Oscar winner Wally Pfister swapped his camera for an electric guitar. Together with musician Alec Sekulovski, he gave a short rock performance for the festival’s guests and the Bitola public.

Pfister is the president of the international jury of the 47th edition of the International Cinematographers’ Film Festival “Manaki Brothers” (September 19–25), which awards the prestigious “Golden Camera 300.”

He is the longtime collaborator of director Christopher Nolan — director of photography on Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises. He won the Academy Award for cinematography for Inception at the 83rd Academy ceremony.

A year earlier, at the 46th edition (2025), Pfister received the “Special Golden Camera 300” for an extraordinary contribution to world cinematography; this year he returned with a concrete duty — heading the festival jury.

The performance was not part of the festival’s official protocol, but a spontaneous outburst by the jury president. Some media described it as “historic” or a “world exclusive,” but what can be said for sure is that it was an unusual and impressive moment of this year’s “Manaki Brothers” program.

Source: Panoptikum