A critically important realm of avant-garde cinema has been largely neglected in North America over the years: the wave of films that emerged in the countries of ex-Yugoslavia. While a handful of filmmakers have penetrated the consciousness of scholars and cineastes – Dušan Makavejev above all, though Karpo Godina and Želimir Žilnik have begun to make ripples as well – these artists are merely the tip of the iceberg, representing an experimental film movement of extraordinary richness, inventiveness, and uncompromising political engagement.
Introductions and Q&A by Jurij Meden, Curator of Film Exhibitions at the George Eastman House
Karpo Godina, arguably the most internationally acclaimed Slovenian filmmaker and cinematographer, launched his career in the mid-sixties with a quick succession of independently produced 8mm experimental shorts, predominantly designed to question everything he was being taught at the state film academy. DIVJAD, PES and ANNO PASSATO, which comprise only a small part of this succession, are primarily exercises in motion: constant motion of the gaze, constant motion in front of the gaze, motion in all known and unknown directions, all linked together through seemingly random editing and mere hints of lustful stories.
