Among the People: Life & Acting

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Subota, 8. decembar 2018. 19:30 Amerikana

Među ljudima: Život i gluma

Dokumentarni video

Režija: Želimir Žilnik

Srbija, 2018.

Trajanje: 83 min.

Nacionalna premijera

Video povodom izložbe Shadow Citizens assemblage karakteriše sećanja i komentare glumaca amatera u kombinaciji sa scenama iz filmova u kojima su učestvovali kao “protagonisti”, pomešani sa snimcima ekipe koja radi na setovima Žilnikovih filmova.

Deluje kao podsetnik Žilniku o talentima i stvarnim iskustvima njegovih učesnika, koji su inspirisali ovog filmadžiju da artikuliše svoje narativne teme i definiše svoje izmišljene likove. Istovremeno, video dokumentuje kako su učesnici filma doživeli nove susrete i solidarnost u “filmskom kolektivu”.

Among the People: Life & Acting

Documentary video

Director: Želimir Žilnik

Serbia, 2018

Duration: 83 min

National premiere

The newly commissioned video for the occasion of the exhibition Shadow Citizens assemblage features memories and commentaries of non-professional actors combined with excerpts from films in which they participated as “protagonists,” mixed with footage made of crews working on the sets of Žilnik’s films.

It acts as a reminder for Žilnik of the talents and real-life experiences of his participants, which inspired the filmmaker to articulate their narrative threads and also define his fictional characters. At the same time, the video documents how the film participants experienced new encounters and solidarity in the “film collective.”

Želimir Žilnik

Želimir Žilnik (born in Niš in 1942; currently living and working in Novi Sad) has written and directed numerous feature and documentary films which have reaped many awards at domestic and international film festivals. Žilnik is renowned as an initiator of the “docudrama” genre. From the very beginning his films have focused on contemporary issues, featuring social, political and economic assessments of everyday life. The student demonstrations of 1968 and the turmoil that followed the occupation of Czechoslovakia are at the centre of Žilnik’s first feature film Early Works (1969) which was awarded the “Golden Bear” at the Berlin Film Festival and four prizes in Pula that same year. After facing problems with censorship in Yugoslavia, Žilnik spent the mid-seventies in Germany, where he independently produced and made seven documentaries and one feature film, Paradise (1976). Following his return to Yugoslavia at the end of the seventies, he directed a substantial series of television films and docudramas for TV Belgrade and TV Novi Sad. By the end of the eighties Žilnik was making films through a cooperative structure of television and cinema production. Žilnik’s most recent films include Fortress Europe (2000), Kenedi Goes Back Home (2003), Kenedi, Lost and Found (2005), Kenedi is Getting Married (2007), The Old School of Capitalism (2009) and others. These films have been screened at over 250 international festivals. Alongside his ceaseless filmmaking and production work, Žilnik has also been active in educational activities. Since 1997 he has been a mentor, teacher and executive producer in many international workshops for students from all over South Eastern Europe and has been a visiting speaker at foreign film schools.