ŽŽŽ: JOURNAL ABOUT ŽELIMIR ŽILNIK/ŽURNAL O ŽELIMIRU ŽILNIKU
Tuesday, September 26, 7:00 p.m.
This heartfelt and exuberant documentary introduces audiences to filmmaker Želimir Žilnik’s prolific body of work and his unwavering effort to portray society’s most marginalized populations with deep humanism and compassion.
A leading figure in Yugoslavia’s Black Wave film movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Želimir Žilnik is among the most influential and widely acclaimed filmmakers from southeastern Europe. This heartfelt and exuberant documentary introduces audiences to Žilnik’s prolific body of work, which spans six decades, and to his unwavering effort to portray society’s most marginalized populations with deep humanism and compassion. [92 min; documentary; Serbian with English subtitles]
EARLY WORKS/RANI RADOVI
Tuesday, October 3, 7:00 p.m.
Three idealists embark on a mission to awaken the class consciousness of peasants and workers in the countryside with unintended consequences. Winner of the 1969 Berlin Golden Bear. A Q&A will follow the screening.
Influenced by the writings of Karl Marx, three men and a young woman embark on a mission to awaken the class consciousness of peasants and workers in the countryside. Lacking sophistication, determination, and morale, their revolutionary aims flounder and the young woman is sacrificed as witness to this failed attempt. The winner of the Golden Bear at the 19th Berlin International Film Festival in 1969, Early Works critically explores the revolutionary mood of 1968 and its aftermath in Yugoslavia. [87 min; drama; Serbian with English subtitles]
ŽELIMIR ŽILNIK JORGENSEN PROGRAM
Tuesday, October 3, 4:00 p.m.
This visit from the widely acclaimed Serbian filmmaker will explore his prolific six-decade career and his films that have documented, anticipated, and critically engaged with pivotal sociopolitical events with an experimental documentary style that blurs filmic genres.
Želimir Žilnik (born in 1942; living and working in Novi Sad, Serbia) is among the most influential filmmakers to emerge from southeastern Europe. A prolific and award-winning writer and director, Žilnik creates films that illuminate the connections between political and economic issues and everyday life. His feature and documentary films have captured and responded to the historical moments and existential questions that have shaped the latter half of the twentieth century—from state censorship and the student uprisings of 1968, to the collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe, the wars in Yugoslavia, and the rising nationalisms and disaster capitalism of today.
ŽELIMIR ŽILNIK SHORTS PROGRAM
Thursday, October 5, 7:00 p.m.
This program showcases Želimir Žilnik’s commitment to cinematic explorations of labor in its multifaceted forms. Spanning a decade, including the filmmaker’s brief emigration from Yugoslavia to Germany in the 1970s, the short films in this program showcase Želimir Žilnik’s commitment to examining the category of work in its multifaceted forms. Stark yet sympathetic, the films shed light on unseen and overlooked labor, on unemployed and unhoused populations, and on the plight of immigrants and guest workers. A Q&A with filmmaker Želimir Žilnik will follow the screening.
The Unemployed/Nezaposleni ljudi [13 min | 1968 | Not Rated | Serbian with English subtitles]: Unable to find work in Yugoslavia, an intergenerational group of men criticize the government’s failure to guarantee basic social services (housing, employment, health care, a living wage) and ultimately seek employment in Germany as migrant laborers or “guest workers.”
Black Film/Crni Film [14 min | 1971 | Not Rated | Serbian with English subtitles]: Žilnik invites six homeless men to sleep in his apartment. While the men relax in his home, the filmmaker goes into the city, asking passersby how to fix the problem of homelessness in Novi Sad.
Inventory/Inventur – Metzstrasse 11 [9 min | 1975 | Not Rated | Italian, German, Serbo-Croatian, and Turkish with English subtitles]: Along a staircase in an old Munich apartment building, tenants—mostly guest workers and their families—describe the ups and downs of life abroad as well as their hopes and plans for the future.
House Orders/Hausordnung [12 min | 1975 | Not Rated | German with English subtitles]: Guest workers in Germany speak out against the building managers and superintendents who impose strict restrictions on tenants and take advantage of the workers’ precarious situation.
Market People [30 min | 1977 | Not Rated | Serbian with English subtitles]: A glimpse into the labor that makes leisure possible. This short film depicts the merchants, builders, tricksters, and performers who organize and operate one of the largest carnivals in Yugoslavia.
