Yugoslavia, 1972, (unfinished), 75 min, 35 mm, color directed by: Zelimir Zilnik
written by: Zelimir Zilnik, Branko Vucicevic
camera: Karpo Acimovic Godina
editor: Eva Vekas
written by: Zelimir Zilnik, Branko Vucicevic
camera: Karpo Acimovic Godina
editor: Eva Vekas
production: Neoplanta film, Novi Sad
cast: Alenka Zdesar, Milja Vujanovic, Dragana Djuric, Cedomir Radovic, Ilija Basic
The private entrepreneur Svetozar Udovicki successfully takes advantage of the upside of Yugoslav self-management socialism that started favouring the private enterprise. He possesses a small factory producing plastic materials and a road transport firm with several trucks, he buys meat in the country and resells it in tourist resorts. He lives with children his ex-wives gave birth to while he was travelling across the country.However, there is the advent of the turbulent year of 1971, with first tensions among republics of Tito's Yugoslavia, rise of nationalism, threats and accusations of secessionism coming along. The communist regime and Tito in person react by dogmatic enclosure of the society: the private enterprise is uprooted, political protests suppressed. What happens in the film is that Svetozar's firm is shut down and he himself forced to bankrupt, whereas his children run off to the cities where their mothers live. His son who left for Zagreb takes part in the so called "Croatian spring of 1971," when a group of nationalistically oriented students challenge the old communist structure (Today's prominent Croatian politicians, Drazen Budisa and Zvonimir Cicak, were the leaders in these events). Svetozar's daughter leaves for Ljubljana, where she takes part in first great environmental rallies and protest advocating free university, lead by Jasa Zlobec and Marjan Podobnik, today's prominent Slovene politicians. The second daughter is in Belgrade, where university protests against making Yugoslavia a confederation. All these rebel yells are, however, "appeased" by the intervention of the police and Svetozar's children flee abroad on a hijacked plane. There they live like bums, and the girls become prostitutes: tired, hungry and desperate, they demand to be received in the Yugoslav embassy, asking to come back home. During their visit the embassy is attacked by Ustashi terrorists, the ambassador assassinated, whereas the children of Svetozar Udovicki all die while defending the embassy.
This film reflects the actual events from 1971. Lots of documentary materials of all the depicted events have been included, whereas the last scene is reconstruction of Ustashi attack on Yugoslav Embassy in Stockholm, when ambassador Vladimir Rolovi} was assassinated.
Since in the 1971 "political earthquake" Yugoslavia has been exposed to a new wave of dogmatism, state of affairs in film making abruptly changed. The manager of the "Neoplanta film" producing company had been dismissed and his position was taken by a commissar who was supposed to do away with the "negative tendencies." The montage of the film was therefore stopped, Zilnik removed as a representative of "the black wave." His films were proclaimed "politically unfit" were "Pioneers," "The Unemployed," "The June Turmoil," "Black Film" and "Early Works."
When, twenty years later, Zilnik inspected the material, he found out that the negative of the film had been "lost." Therefore, film remained unfinished. The found fragments of the work in progress were presented for the first time in January 1998, at the festival "Alpe-Adria" in Triest, within the retrospective "Onda nera."
When, twenty years later, Zilnik inspected the material, he found out that the negative of the film had been "lost." Therefore, film remained unfinished. The found fragments of the work in progress were presented for the first time in January 1998, at the festival "Alpe-Adria" in Triest, within the retrospective "Onda nera."