Sara Klimoska In Tokyo Grand Prix-Winning “Sister Brother Manhole Cover”

Director Milcho Manchevski, Golden Lion winner for his debut film Before the Rain (1994), returns with a new feature, SISTER BROTHER MANHOLE COVER, portraying the dignity of people on the margins of society through a blend of humor and allegory. The film won the Tokyo Grand Prix in the Competition selection at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Slavic Artists client Sara Klimoska takes the lead role in Manchevski’s latest feature, marking another collaboration between the actress and the director following their work together on Willow (2019) and Kaymak (2022), in which Klimoska also played lead roles.

Klimoska plays Malina, a young woman living in poverty with her brother Viktor in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. The siblings survive by stealing bronze statues and manhole covers to sell as scrap metal. One day, a bust of a national hero falls on Viktor’s foot, seriously injuring him. After the accident, Malina and Viktor find themselves at the bottom of society..

The film is a co-production spanning North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Italy and the U.K.

Klimoska attracted international attention with her role in Goran Stolevski’s You Won’t Be Alone, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022. She went on to appear in Stolevski’s Housekeeping for Beginners (2023), while her other notable credits include Willow, Kaymak, Unshattered and The Erl-King.

In 2021, Klimoska was selected as one of European Shooting Stars, a prestigious initiative presented at the Berlin International Film Festival that highlights some of Europe’s most promising acting talents.

With a growing body of work spanning acclaimed regional and international productions, Klimoska has established herself as one of the notable actors of her generation in Southeast European cinema.