Želimir Žilnik

Thursday, October 3 
17:00 – 20:00 Screening and Q&A
Ambasada

Želimir Žilnik: screenings
Fortress Europe (2000)
Illness and Recovery of Buda Brakus (1980)
Inventory (1975)
Market People (1977)
The Unemployed (1968)

The cult director and one of the most appreciated filmmakers from Eastern Europe, Želimir Žilnik, was a guest of the sixth edition of the Ceau, Cinema! Festival in Timişoara and Gottlob in July 2019, where he was honored through a special focus in the context of the Art Encounters Biennial 2019. Žilnik is considered one of the pioneers of the “docudrama” genre. In the late 60s, his socially militant films brought him praise in former Yugoslavia, but drew the attention of censorship during the 70s and 80s due to their strong criticism of the political system. Žilnik attended the Ceau, Cinema! Festival together with his producer, Sarita Matijevic (Playground Produkcija). Their presence in the festival is part of the collaboration with Art Encounters Biennale 2019.

Friday, October 4
10:00 – 16:00 Film workshop
Ambasada

Želimir Žilnik will present his film-making methodology, applied in almost all of his works that deal with social engagement, provocation, humor and explicit political criticism.

Throughout his career, Želimir Žilnik observes paradoxical and irrational sides of both human destinies and state structures: from early socialism and its liquidation, orchestration and execution of Yugoslav wars, followed by disintegration of the state, establishment of so called “democracy” and its defeat, to the most recent trends of “pledge of allegiance” to the EU.

To exemplify, he will present excerpts from:
1. The Most Beautiful Country in the World (2018)
2. The Old School of Capitalism, 2009
3. Kenedi trilogy (2003 – 2007)
4. Tito Among the Serbs for the Second Time, 1994
5. Inventory, 1975
6. Uprising in Jazak, 1972

If interested, please register by 3rd October at:
contact@artencounters.ro

The cult director and one of the most appreciated filmmakers from Eastern Europe, Želimir Žilnik, was a guest of the sixth edition of the Ceau, Cinema! Festival in Timişoara and Gottlob in July 2019, where he was honored through a special focus in the context of the Art Encounters Biennial 2019. Žilnik is considered one of the pioneers of the “docudrama” genre. In the late 60s, his socially militant films brought him praise in former Yugoslavia, but drew the attention of censorship during the 70s and 80s due to their strong criticism of the political system. Žilnik attended the Ceau, Cinema! Festival together with his producer, Sarita Matijevic (Playground Produkcija). Their presence in the festival is part of the collaboration with Art Encounters Biennale 2019. On October 4th, Želimir Žilnik is holding a workshop in Timișoara, preceded by another series of screenings from his previous works.

 

Želimir Žilnik (b. 1942, Yugoslavia) is an artist-filmmaker from Novi Sad, Serbia. In his highly prolific career, Žilnik has made over 50 feature-length and short films which have been exhibited internationally at film festivals including Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, Moscow and Oberhausen. His ability to observe and unleash compelling narratives out of the lives of ordinary people serves as the common thread throughout his work. Recently, Žilnik has been the subject of major career retrospectives at Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2019; Cinemateca Argentina, 2018; Anthology Film Archive, New York & Harvard Film Archive, 2017; etc. Since 2010, his work has been featured in art galleries, institutes and museums around the world including Documenta, Kassel; Venice Biennale; ICA London; mumok Vienna; MACBA Barcelona; MoMA New York; National Gallery of  Art in Washington DC; MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt; LENTOS Kunstmuseum Linz; Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, among others.