21st Century Zilnik is the first UK survey of the work of the pioneering Yugoslav-Serbian filmmaker Želimir Žilnik. With a career that began in the 1960s, Žilnik is one of the genuine legends of European cinema, particularly a radical, engaged, independent, humanist cinema. The legend began in the year 1969, when Žilnik won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for his controversial debut feature film Early Works — while he was still in his 20s. Since then the enfant terrible of Yugoslav New Film has remained committed to his project of platforming the marginalised and interrogating the blind spots of socialist, post-socialist, and neoliberal Europe. Now in his 70s he is operating at impressive heights by any standards, and he is experiencing something of a career renaissance. In 2015 Doclisboa dedicated a major career retrospective to him; in 2017 he was paid homage at Anthology Film Archives and Harvard Film Archive; in 2018 he was profiled at Cinemateca Argentina; in 2019 he was given a wide-ranging survey at Centre Pompidou. This contemporary overview at Close-Up Film Centre focuses on the urgency and vitality of Žilnik’s 21st century work, and includes the UK premiere of his most recent film, The Most Beautiful Country in the World. The artist will be present on the occasion of this premiere for a discussion with the audience. A special program of his early documentary shorts will be shown at LUX on 17 November, and affiliated public programs include a symposium at Birkbeck on 15 November and a practice-based workshop at Goldsmiths on 13 November. Organised by Greg de Cuir Jr (Nonaligned Curator, Belgrade), with Dr Vana Goblot (Goldsmiths) and Matthew Barrington (Birkbeck), and with kind support from CHASE.
Film Programme at Close Up Cinema
Želimir Žilnik, 2015, 94 min
Close Up Cinema, 12.11.19, 8:15 pm
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Illegal migrants and asylum-seekers are housed in refugee centers in Serbia following dramatic flights from the war and destitution gripping areas in North Africa and the Middle East. They must pass through a complex period of adaptation to life in Serbia, though in most cases their aim is to arrive in countries within the European Union. This incisive docu-drama highlights the socio-political context in which they show their individual worth, in the process becoming protagonists with whom viewers can identify, whose struggles through adversity and whose fates they can understand.
Želimir Žilnik, 2009, 122 min
Close Up Cinema, 13.11.19, 8:15 pm
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The Old School of Capitalism is rooted in the first wave of worker revolts to hit Serbia since the advent of capitalism. Desperate workers bulldoze through factory gates and are devastated to discover the site looted by their bosses; Eccentrically escalating confrontations prove fruitless, including a melee with workers in football shoulder-pads and helmets confronting their boss and his security force in bulletproof vests; Committed young anarchists offer solidarity, take the bosses hostage; A Russian tycoon, a Wall Street trader and US VP Biden’s visit to Belgrade unexpectedly complicate events that lead toward a final shock. Along the way, the film produces an increasingly complex and yet unfailingly lively account of present-day, in fact, up-to-the-minute struggles under the misery-inducing effects of both local and global capital.
Želimir Žilnik, 2011, 110 min
Close Up Cinema, 14.11.19, 8:15 pm
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This is a documentary film based on statements, interviews and on reconstruction. The life story of Dragica Srzentić casts the light on a number of events and persons relevant for Yugoslav history before and after World War II. The look at a century-long life of a woman-hero gives us an insight into the rarely mentioned segments of ex-Yugoslav intellectual and ideological maze of the eight states in which this Istrian-born woman has lived (Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of Italy, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, NDH, FNRJ, SFRJ, Croatia, Serbia).
Pirika on Film + Little Pioneers
Želimir Žilnik, 2013, 53 min + Želimir Žilnik, 1968, 18 min
Close Up Cinema, 15.11.19, 6:30 pm
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A biographical video essay on Pirika, a strong-willed woman living in Serbia, made 44 years after she appeared as a child actor in the short documentary film Little Pioneers and the Golden Bear-winning feature film Early Works, both directed by Želimir Žilnik. Growing up on the streets of Novi Sad, flirting with an accidental acting career, struggling through multiple failed relationships, even losing contact with her only daughter, this is the story of Pirika reconstructing her life through the regenerative power of cinema. During a climactic scene in which she visits Kino Arsenal in Berlin where a retrospective screening of the film Early Works is taking place, Pirika reunites with her onetime director Žilnik on stage and also her estranged daughter. (Pirika on Film, Želimir Žilnik, 2013, 53 min).
Socially neglected children, taking care of themselves, dare go stealing and break the law. They argue with parents who neither understand them nor do they have feelings for them. As a counterpoint to this story, we see a TV show where a popular actor-entertainer Gula (Dragoljub Milosavljevic) addresses happy and care-free children. (Little Pioneers, Želimir Žilnik, 1968, 18 min).
The Most Beautiful Country in the World
Želimir Žilnik, 2018, 101 min
UK premiere + conversation with Zelimir Zilnik
Close Up Cinema, 16.11.19, 8:15 pm
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The film follows a group of young migrants in Vienna who break through the administrative labyrinths of checking and gaining status and residence. We see their anxieties, mutual encouragement, and achievements – while mastering the foreign language, they demonstrate skills in their professions, clarity and knowledge on entrance exams for schools and universities. It is also a story about new and old friendships, about the feeling of freedom in the new environment, without the pressure of war threats and the patriarchal stance of the family life.
Želimir Žilnik, 2003, 75 min
Close Up Cinema, 17.11.19, 6:00 pm
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This film is about people who emigrated to European countries during the war years of the nineties. They have lived there for years, had children and took them to schools. In 2002 they were in the “process of readmission” – in a severe and inhumane police action they were collected from work, from schools and their homes and returned to Serbia. This is the story of two friends (Kenedi and Denis) and Ibinci family from Kostolac during the first couple of days after they were returned at the Belgrade airport. We see them trying to find accommodation, searching for friends and other family members. Kenedi goes to Kosovska Mitrovica where his family used to have a house, to which he now does not have access. The focus of the film is on the position of the Roma people as the most endangered part of the returned population.
Želimir Žilnik, 2007, 80 min
Close Up Cinema, 17.11.19, 8:00 pm
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Kenedi is in a huge debt after building a house for his family. He finds himself searching for any kind of work to support himself, for as little as 10 EUR per day, a scarce amount to help him relieve his debt. Ultimately, Kenedi decides to look for money in the sex business. Initially offering his services to older ladies and widows, he expands his ‘business’ to offer sex to wealthy men. When he finds out about new liberal European laws on gay marriages, Kenedi sees prospects in looking for a “marriage material”, to renew his search for legal status in the EU. The opportunity arises during EXIT Music Festival when he meets Max, a guy from Munich. But will their promising relationship bring the solution to Kenedi’s problems?
Extra Events
Making Films in Times of Political and Financial Crises, moderated by Želimir Žilnik
Goldsmiths University, 13.11.19, 2:00 pm
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Želimir Žilnik will lead a workshop at Goldsmiths for doctoral candidates working with the moving image and operating on the boundary between theory and practice. The workshop will consist of two parts; the first section involves a lecture with short screenings and discussions integrated, while the second part is student-led, inviting PhDs to contemplate their own research and projects in dialogue with Žilnik. Particular themes of emphasis include navigating political action and creative work, the ethics of filmmaking, working with fiction/nonfiction, and strategies of fundraising and organising. Food and drinks will be served. Early registration is recommended, as space is limited. This workshop is offered free of charge.
Symposium: 21st Century Žilnik
Birkbeck University, 15.11.19, 10:00 am
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This symposium at Birkbeck is an opportunity to consider the wider context that structures Žilnik’s career and links his work to different currents in interdisciplinary research. It brings together leading theoreticians and practitioners for in-depth discussions and who will give presentations on the following topics: Socialist Yugoslavia and the history of its film and television practices; documentary film and hybrid filmmaking; New German Cinema and transnational filmmaking; post-socialist transition and post-Yugoslav television and cinema; contemporary practices and political cinema in Europe. Greg de Cuir Jr, curator of Žilnik’s UK survey program, will moderate the symposium. Želimir Žilnik will participate in a closing panel discussion.
Želimir Žilnik 1970s Short Films
LUX, 17.11.19, 2:00 pm
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LUX presents a programme of short films by Želimir Žilnik. The 1970s was a decade of transition for Žilnik, as he went into self-exile and worked between West Germany and Socialist Yugoslavia because of the furore surrounding his controversial debut feature-length film Early Works in 1969. Whether at home or abroad, Žilnik remained dedicated to an interventionist documentary mode that took aim at the faults in society while also probing the boundaries between reality and fiction. The films in this program deal with migration, labour, commerce, and antifascist revolutionary action. The artist will be present for a discussion.
Shorts Programme
Inventory, 1975, 9 min.
Black Film, 1971, 14 min.
Market People, 1977, 30 min.
Uprising in Jazak, 1973, 18 min.