Dunja Jelenković: Festival jugoslovenskog dokumentarnog i kratkometražnog filma, 1954–2004. Od jugoslovenskog socijalizma do srpskog nacionalizma

Dunja Jelenković’s book Festival jugoslovenskog dokumentarnog i kratkometražnog filma, 1954–2004. Od jugoslovenskog socijalizma do srpskog nacionalizma (The Festival of Yugoslav Documentary and Short Film, 1954–2004. From Yugoslav socialism to Serbian nationalism), published by the Serbian Film Centre in Belgrade in 2023, explores one of the oldest and longest-running film festivals in the Balkans. Jelenković presents the first thorough examination of how social and political conditions in Yugoslavia, and later Serbia, affected the festival’s programming. A pioneering researcher on the subject, she examines the interplay between documentary filmmaking, political and ideological shifts, and cultural policies in two main periods: the Yugoslav years (1954–1990s), characterised by a unifying socialist ideal, and the post-1990s Serbian–Montenegrin years, which abandoned that ideal in favour of nationalism.

During its first phase, with themes of war, revolution, liberation, and the personality cult of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, the festival served as a perfect venue for educating the public and promoting socialist values and ideology. Moreover, along with the Pula Film Festival, these represented Yugoslavia’s first professional film festivals, both of which Jelenković describes as a “revolutionary legacy” of the Second World War (115). Jelenković notes that the festival’s organisation mirrored the federal structure of state and society in Yugoslavia, aiming to promote Yugoslav identity and bolster support for the socialist regime. As a result, problematic issues such as victimhood and perpetration during the Second World War were subject to “ideological rather than national framing” (129). In the 1960s and 1970s, the programming shifted to more experimental works, such as the Yugoslav Black Wave films. Yet, despite its creative aspirations, the festival often faced pressure from censorship and exclusion, as analysed in detail in Chapter Four (“Warriors, workers, and unknown forerunners”), using the films of Želimir Žilnik, Vojdrag Berčić, Joca Jovanović, and Miodrag Milošević as examples of the tension between artistic freedom and political constraints.

While the controversies and censorship of the second half of the festival’s first decade, that is until the mid-1960s, highlighted the contradictions of the Yugoslav regime, the late 1980s saw the emergence of autonomous and eventually even separatist tendencies in the federation as well as the erosion of the socialist ideal, which led to the rise of alternative nationalist narratives. Beginning in the 1990s, a decade marked by political turmoil, the fragmentation of Yugoslavia, and war, the festival entered a new phase. Its organisers strove to adapt to the new political situation and reshaped their festival’s programming to reflect Serbian national identity. At the turn of the 21st century, the festival then faced the dual challenges of globalisation and technological progress. To respond to these, it embraced “internationalisation” and underwent a rebranding as the “Belgrade Film Festival”, discarding its “Yugoslav” focus in structure, name, and perspective (444).

Dunja Jelenković’s book stands out for its diversity of topics and meticulous research, covering a wide range of examples. As she rightly notes in her introduction, very little has been written on the subject. The exceptions here are the works of Ranko Munitić, Greg de Cuir, and Nikola Lorencin, who the author also mentions. Jelenković’s book fills this gap by providing a broad and detailed narrative that covers several decades of sociopolitical and cultural changes in the context of which the festival took place.

By defining film festivals using Pierre Nora’s lieux de mémoire as “a recurring practice that takes place every year in the same place, giving a framework to the memory that is preserved and made” (447), the study situates itself within the complex and dynamic field of memory studies. The extensive use of primary sources, including archival material as well as interviews with filmmakers, festival organisers, and contemporary critics, emphasises the study’s multidisciplinary, comparative nature, and its archaeological approach. This perspective enriches the reader’s understanding of all aspects of the festival, from programming and framing to the mediation and reception of documentary and short film.

One of the most commendable aspects of this study is its accessibility to a broader audience. Jelenković takes great care to explain complex sociological and political contexts, focusing on specific events in a way that is understandable not only to specialists in the field but to anyone interested in film, culture, and history. Many valuable examples show how film programming interacted with and reflected the context in which it occurred. Each chapter focuses on a significant historical moment and how it affected the festival, providing a thorough analysis while maintaining a narrative flow that keeps the reader engaged. A close examination of how the festival responded to political upheavals such as the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the rise of Serbian nationalism, as discussed in Chapter Five (“Disintegration”), provides valuable insights into how cultural institutions can serve as a platform for political propaganda. Through the lens of the festival, the book sheds light on processes such as national victimisation, the rehabilitation of tradition, religious exclusivity, and the downgrading of previously glorified subjects such as socialism and Titoism.

One minor critique is the absence of an international comparison. Although some international examples are referenced, a comparative analysis with other festival policies could have highlighted differences and similarities between contemporaneous film festivals, given the unique (post-)Yugoslav situation. However, Jelenković raises these questions at the end of the book, calling for further research and hinting at a possible sequel. The book also leaves some issues unexplored, such as the actual impact of the festival within its borders and the extent of its audience. For example, it remains unclear whether the festival primarily attracted a local audience from Belgrade or if it drew attendees from across the country, potentially living up to its “Yugoslav” ambition. And this inevitably raises the question of what remained of its outreach from the 1990s onward, with the Yugoslav character already fractured and meaningful connection rendered impossible.

Overall, Jelenković offers a compelling and thorough examination of the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival. She illustrates how festivals contribute to the culture of remembering and forgetting, how they reflect and shape their identity over time, underscoring that state political and ideological decisions directly influence cultural policies and institutions, often succeeding in making them complicit.