Golden Lion Winner Milcho Manchevski Turns His Camera on the Kočani Nightclub Fire in Documentary 'Good People'

A filmmaker who won Venice's top prize three decades ago has turned his attention to one of the deadliest nightclub fires in Europe in recent memory. Milcho Manchevski's documentary "Good People" made its world premiere in Sarajevo's documentary competition, assembling more than 20 first-hand accounts from victims and witnesses of the fire that tore through the Pulse nightclub in the North Macedonian town of Kočani on March 16, 2025, killing 63 people (Variety).

The fire broke out at approximately 3:00 a.m. local time, as the venue was packed far beyond its 250-person capacity — roughly double that number, most of them between 16 and 25 years old. The club had a single fire extinguisher and a ceiling made of highly flammable material. The sole exit became a death trap: deaths were attributed to smoke inhalation, burns, and a stampede as attendees scrambled to escape. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies documented at least 63 confirmed deaths and over 200 people affected in its final report on the disaster (ReliefWeb). The club was operating illegally at the time (ABC News).

Manchevski, an acclaimed North Macedonian director whose debut feature "After the Rain" won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival more than thirty years before "Good People," self-funded the 86-minute documentary. He deliberately kept the film, in his own words, "extremely ascetic, austere and minimalist" to avoid the temptation to manipulate (Variety). The documentary does not cover the institutional failures that precipitated the fire, focusing instead on the testimony of those who lived through it.

Manchevski also discussed being blacklisted during promotion of the film — a detail he raised publicly without elaborating on the specific circumstances (Variety). His next feature project, titled "Sister Brother Manhole," follows.

What gives "Good People" its weight is the restraint. A filmmaker with the clout of a Golden Lion could have built a sweeping indictment. Instead, he handed the screen to witnesses and stepped back — an 86-minute document of voices, not a polemic. The institutional questions — why an illegal, overcrowded club with one fire extinguisher was operating at all — remain for others to pursue.