SERBIAN FILM PRODUCTION
FEATURE FILMS
After the Second World War, feature films were produced in Serbia and Montenegro until 1951 exclusively by Zvezda film, a federal enterprise, and Avala Alm and Lovcen film, republic enterprises. In 1951, they were joined by UFUS (Association of Film Artists of Serbia) and in 1964, also by Belgrade Cinema Club (with its first filin, The Traitor (Izdajnik), which was directed by Kokan Rakonjac). In the course of further decentralisation of the Yugoslav film industry, dividing it into republic and provincia1 fiIm industries, professional feature film production was started up in Vojvodina in 1972, by Neoplanta film (with the film The Traces of a Dark Girl (Tragovi crne devojke) directed by Zdravko Randic) and in Kosovo by Kosovo film (with the film How to Die (Kako umreti) directed by Miodrag Stamenkovic).
Under the 1982 Film Industry Law and Law on the Independent Performance of Artistic and Other Activities in the Field of Culture, it was made possible to set up in Serbia permanent working communities (PWC or TRZ in the Serbian original) foi the production of films. Among the first and most important ef the latter was Art film of Belgrade, which was followed by others specialising in various kinds of films.
In the late eighties, the film producers were also joined by many distributors (Avala pro-film, Mumva film, Inex film, Zeta film, etc.), as well as by Beograd film, the biggest cinema operating organisation. Some other organisations, such as Decje novine pubiishing organisation, Association of Cinema Operators of Serbia, etc., also acted as film producers from time to time.
After 1991, many permanent-working communities, as well as many classical film enterprises, weie no longer able to carry on their business, because the film market got shrunk" the number of cinemas decreased dramatically and the sanctions made the acquisition of film material and equipment almost impossible. As of 1991, the Radio and Television Organisation of Belgrade/Serbia (RTV Beograd / Srbija) was one of the most important film producers or co-producers. Another major co-producer was Avala film, the one time biggest producer in Serbia, since it owns the filming equipment and other facilities and premises. A financial contribution was being made by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia. The initiative in the domestic feature film production was taken over completely by private enterprises, among which the following stand out: MP Agency, Cinema Design, Victoria Film and Monte Royal Pictures.
Serbia and Montenegro have a prevailing share in the film heritage of the former SFR of Yugoslavia (Table I and Chart I). Of the 889 long feature films made in the 1947-1990 period, 455 or 51.2% were made in Serbia and Montenegro (426 or 47.9% in Serbia alone).
After 1990, the production of long feature films went on in Serbia only. In the 1991-1997 period, 43 of these films were produced in Serbia and only one in Montenegro. In terms of genre, 40 of them were modern dramas or comedies, one was a historic one (Migrations)(Seobe), 1994, directed by Aleksandar Petrovic), one was a musical one (Sweet Dreams)(Slatko od snova), 1994, directed by Vladimir 2ivkovic) and one was cartoon/puppet film (Amy the Infantry Ant (Mrav pesadinac), 1993, by Slavko Tatic). All films were in colour, in the mono-technique mostly, one being made by the Dolby stereo technique (Variant A) and only two by the Dolby SR technique (Underground (Podzemlje), 1995, directed by Emir Kusturica, and Balkan Rules (Balkanska pravila), 1997, directed by Darko Bajic).
Among the films made in this period, the following ones stand out: Tango Argentino, 1992, by Goran Paskaljevic, 8'e are no Angels (Mi nismo andeli), 1992, by Srdan Dragojevic, Tito and I (Tito i ja), 1992, by Goran Markovic, Better Than Escape (Bolje od bekstva), 1993, by Miroslav Lekic, Between Heaven and Earth (Ni na nebu ni na zemlji), 1994, by Milos Radivojevic, Premeditated Murder (Ubistvo s predumisljajem), 1995, by Gorcin Sto-janovic, Underground (Podzemlje), 1995, by Emir Kusturica, Somebody Else s America (Tuda Amerika), 1995, by Goran Paskaljevic, and Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (Lepa sela lepo gore), 1996, by Srdan Dragojevic.
The Yugoslav films made after 1995 were well-rated at international film festivals.
In marking the First Century of Film in Serbia, the Board of the Academy of Film Art and Science (AFUN) made an appraisal of all domestic films made from 1945 to 1995 and selected the best ten. Based on the aesthetic criterion, AFUN divided this period into three phases, including. phase of professional beginnings (1947-1956), phase of maturing creativity (1957-1966) and phase of mature creativity (1967-1995).
In the phase of professional beginnings (1947-1956), 30 films were made and they varied &om strict realism at the beginning to a somewhat more flexible one later on, their topics being associated with the war years (Slavica, 1947, Vjekoslav Afric) or problems encountered in the development of a new society (Life is Ours (Zivot je nas), 1947, Gustav Gavrin). Initially, the feature film was used for ideological purposes, but soon enough, it also began to be regarded as art, so that films without ideological connotations began to be
made (e.g., Soka, 1948, Rados Novakovic). This meant that doors were opened to film authors having a critical attitude to the reality presented in films, as in Faraway is the Sun (Daleko je sunce),1953, by Rados Novakovic or Great and Small (Veliki i mali), 1956, by Vladimir Pogacic.
The phase of maturing creativity (1957-1966) resulted in the production of 71 films and it introduced a new generation of directors who were against a virtual transliteration of the realities to film. By making small shifts and in the absence of criticism of the old and excessive wish to mend and improve things, their feature films acquired new values, starting with Saturday Evening (Subotom uvece), 1957, by Vladimir Pogacic. The Yugoslav film industry began to open up to the world, so that an authorship approach to film was developed, finding its stronghold in the "French new wave Directors such as Aleksandar Petrovic (He and She (Dvoje), The Days (Dani)) and somewhat later, Kokan Rakonjac, Dusan Makavejev, Purisa Bordevic and Zivojin Pavlovic, made the films whose aesthetic value opened the doors of the world to the Yugoslav films in general. The new principles applied in the production of films, with an emphasis on the highest possible self-financing, brought in new directors who were to reconcile the market and reviewers. In this phase, the greatest success was scored by Zika Mitrovic with his films Captain Leshi (Kapetan Lesi), 1960, and March on the Drina (Mars na Drinu), 1964.
In the third phase, the phase of mature creativity (1967-1995), 359 films were made, not only by directors from Belgrade, but also those from Novi Sad, with Zelimir Zilnik in the first place (Early Works)(Rani radovi). The stereotype film forms and aesthetic criteria were being abandoned and the directors were increasingly going in for personal expression and attitude, though with a full involvement of their films. This approach was denoted as the "black wave in the Yugoslav film production, which was arrested by a campaign launched by the establishment in the early seventies. A new generation of directors emerged in the mid-seventies. They became known as the "Czech school" and they were headed by Goran Markovic, Goran Paskaljevic and Srdjan Karanovic. They were joined by students of the "Belgrade school", such as Milos Radivojevic, Slobodan Sijan, Branko Baletic and others. By continuing the author film traditions, they produced films with skil-
fully incorporated social contrasts, stereotype-free characters, an atmosphere typical of the domestic environment, in which also well-known foreign actors played. The films such as The Beach Guard in Winter (Cuvar plaze u zimskom periodu), 1976, by Goran Paskaljevic, Special Education (Specijalno vaspitanje), 1977, by Goran Markovic, The Scent of Wild Flowers (Miris poljskog cveca), 1977, by Srdjan Karanovic, Petrija's Wreath (Petrijin venac), 1980, by Srdjan Karanovic, Pro's that Singing Over there (Ko to tamo peva), 1980, by Slobodan Sijan, and Variola Vera (Variola vera), 1982, by Goran Markovic, marked the eighties. The cinema-goers passed the verdict by accepting these films, getting thus the other directors and producers to abandon the idea of hermeticality, though reacting to any excessive "commercialisation" New film expressions were also being sought in the films of other authors, who were trying to give answers to the questions posed by modern life, though reconsidering also the answers given earlier. Works of literature and plays were being filmed, co-operation with the television was expanding, and the classical producers were also being joined by the first author groups gathered in the permanent working communities. A genre versatility existed, but no particular genre prevailed. Beginners were appearing each year and their films not only freshened up the cinema repertoire, but they also extended the aesthetic reaches. The late eighties and first half of the nineties confirmed the maturity of the Yugoslav film industry, which even under sanctions managed to produce several remarkably good films, such as: Tango Argentino, 1992, by Goran Paskaljevic, We are no Angels (Mi nismo andeli), 1992, by Srdjan Dragojevic, The Black Bomber (Crni bombarder), 1992, by Darko Bajic, Premeditated Murder (Ubistvo s pre-dumisljajeni), 1995, by Gorcin Stojanovic, and Underground (Podzemlje), 1995, by Emir Kusturica. An authors' autonomy achieved in a new sensibility to various psychological and emotional contrasts which are felt increasingly in the Yugoslav society, elevated these authors above the local frames.
The AFUN members selected the following ten films as the best ones made in the 1947-1995 period:
1. Who's that Singing Over There (Ko to tamo peva), 1982, by Slobodan Sijan
2. I Met Some Happy Gypsies Too (Skupljaci perja), 1967, by Aleksandar Petrovic
3. Underground (Podzemlje), 1995, by Emir Kusturica
4. The Three (Tri), 1965, by Aleksandar Petrovic
5. When I am Dead and White (Kada budem mrtav i beo), 1967, by Zivojin Pavlovic
6. Morning (Jutro), 1967, by Purisa Bordevic
7. Premeditated Murder (Ubistvo s predumisljajem), 1995, by Gorcin Stojanovic
8. Petrija 's Wreath (Petrijin venac), 1980, by Srdjan Karanovic
9. We are no Angels (Mi nismo andeli), 1992, by Srdjan Dragojevic
10. Saturday Evening (Subotom uvece), 1957, by Vladimir Pogacic
With the exception of The Three and Saturday Evening, all of these films belong to the phase of mature creativity and they confirmed that the Yugoslav film industry had risen above the average level and imposed itself by its remarkably good accomplishments, which have received the highest ac-knowledgements at domestic and international film festivals alike.
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
The production of documentary films has much deeper roots. Its origins date back to 1897 and it has contributed a lot to the high reputation and quality of the Yugoslav film industry in the country and abroad alike.
Thanks to much smaller requirements in terms of equipment and staff, as well as lower cost, in relation to feature films, the number of documentary films produced is much bigger than that of the feature ones
Like in case of feature films, Serbia was also the biggest producer of documentary films in the former Yugoslavia, its share being 42% until 1980 and 46% until 1990.
CHART II - PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS
The documentary film production began to decline in 1989 and went on in 1990, when the production was halved in relation to that in 1988. After 1991, some documentaries were shot using video cameras and by 1994, the production using video cameras prevailed. The films shot using conventional and video cameras have been treated equally at the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival since 1996. Although it is difficult to determine the genre of films, they are still nevertheless divided into documentary films, cartoons, experimental and short feature films. Some documentary film genres have disappeared from the film industry completely, as is the case with popular science, teaching or travel films, which have been taken over by the television. The production of advertising films and clips has become, like everywhere else in the world, an independent branch, in financial terms primarily.
Dunav film, the leading documentary film producer in Serbia, is still in business and also new ones are cropping up, such as TRZ Beograd, as well as many private ones.
The pictures of everyday life have acquired a new, artistic form, making the Yugoslav documentaries well-known also outside Yugoslavia. The documentary films made in the first few years after the Second World War were based on the experiences of the film cameramen such as Stevan Miskovic, Mihajilo Ivanjikov, Mihajlo Al. Popovic and Vladeta Lukic, but it did not take long for a new generation of documentary film makers to emerge. They were not satisfied with just describing the realities and they sought ways and means of author researching. The directors Velimir Sto-janovic, Zika Cukulic, Zika Ristic and Milenko Strbac distinguished themselves by the selection of frames and their internal composition and by giving appropriate wording to their films.
In the mid-sixties, Aleksandar Petrovic introduced a full intimistic approach to and structure of films. Authors also began to make socially involved documentary films, dealing through global metaphors with many anomalies occurring in the society, which particularly applies to films such as First Case a Man (Prvi padez covek), Soldier Dismissed (Ratnice voljno) and others directed by Krsto Skanata. Because of that, the next generation did not take reality as an obstruction to artistic truth, on the basis of which the so-called "Belgrade documentary film school" was already formed. The films made by Stjepan Zaninovic, Mica Milosevic and particularly Predrag Golubovic expanded the thematic frames of documentary films through an authentic film expression. Novi Sad also became a major documentary film centre, thanks to such fine authors as Zelimir Zilnik and Branko Milosevic, who were subsequently joined by Miroslav Jokic, Prvoslav Marie, Karolj Vicek, Miroslav Antic and others. In placing an emphasis on sound and picture, they were making parodies through showing the occurrences around them in quite a new light. In the seventies, the new authors, such as Zivko Nikolic, who tended to vary the topics through his documentary films, or Vlatko Gilic, who insisted on the individual expression and deviation from the arranging of frames like in his best-known documentary, Love (Ljubav), were joined by the students of the Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts Jovan Jovanovic, Dejan Burkovic and others.
Documentaries were being made in Montenegro by Zdravko Velimirovic, Niksa Jovicevic, Branislav Bastac and others, who were seeking topics in exotic local surroundings and managing to leave a personal mark. The nature as an inexhaustible source of topics determined the opus of Aleksandar Ilic, whose greatest achievement was The Sledge Hammer (Malj) and in particular that of Petar Lalovic, who was successful in finding a link between virgin nature and animals on the one side, and man's continuos disruption of such harmony, on the other.
Many of the documentaries shot from the early nineties onwards won prizes and acknowledgements at domestic and international film festivals. Also new authors emerged, including: Vladimir Perovic, Milan Knezevic, Zelimir Gvardiol and others.
Thanks to the films shot using video cameras and equalisation of the status of the video and documentary films, the number of films made began to grow rapidly as of 1993. According to the prizes won at domestic and international film festivals in this period, the following documentaries stand out: Quiet Life (Tihovanje), 1992, by Mirjana Vukomanovic, About War and Warriors (0 ratu i ratnicima), 1993, by Branko Milosevic, and I don't Know Where, when or How (Ne znam ni gde, ni kad ni kako), 1995, by Zelimir Gvardiol.
The biggest problem posed to this production relates to commercial exploitation and showing in the cinema network which disappeared completely in the sixties, not to mention the fact that the television changed its programme pattern, so that there are no longer any broadcasts of the "One author, one film type which was devoted to this production precisely. In other words, the "life of documentaries was limited to festivals only.
SHORT FEATURE FILMS
Like the documentaries, also the short feature films have a cultural mission only. With exception of the festival premieres and occasional TV broadcasting, neither was this category of films shown in cinemas. Many documentary film makers were looking for an opportunity to try themselves out in this production before tackling the feature films. For example, this was the case with Predrag Golubovic and his opus consisting of The Death of Countryman Djurica (Smrt paora Djurice), Quiet (Tisine) and Biography of Joseph Schulz (Biografija Jozefa Rulca). A particularly big contribution to international success of this kind of production was made by the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, with the film The Case of Foundryman Bogoljub Savkovic (Slucaj Bogoljuba Savkovica livca)(1981), by Seljami Taraku. Preference was given subsequently to the omnibus films made as of late by students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts mostly. Altogether eight omnibus films have been made in what is now the FR of Yugoslavia from 1947 to 1997. About 50 short feature films have been made from 1991 to 1997 and in terms of the prizes won, three of them made in 1994 stand out: Loss of Memory (Amnezija) by Dusan Petricic, Necro film (Nekro film) by Dejan Zecevic and Threesome (Trojka) by Srdan Golubovic.
CARTOONS The production of cartoons aiter the Second World War was started up by Ljubisa and Vera Jocic with their puppet film The Pioneer and Mark E (Pionir i dvojka) and carried on by Nikola Majdak and the cartoonist Zoran Jovanovic, who created a special expression of the "Belgrade cartoon school" gathered around Dunav film. A style quite different from that of the "Zagreb cartoon school" was developed. What prevailed were the short forms, jokes told in the cartoon style. Later on, they
were joined by younger authors, such as Vera Vlajic, Rastko Ciric and Veljko Bikic. With his Bikic Studio, the latter has been the biggest cartoons producer in Yugoslavia since 1990. Besides the various kinds of cartoons, Bikic Studio also makes cartoons and feature films combined. Bikic produced 29 cartoons by 1995 and won many prizes for them. Bikic also produces about 70 short commercial clips a year.
NEWSREEL
The shooting of newsreel stories towards the end of last century - not only by foreign cameramen, but also by domestic film pioneers - speaks about the newsreel making traditions in Yugoslavia. However, a permanent production was started up towards the end of the Second World War, in 1945, when the Newsreel No. 1 was produced using the materials shot by the Film Section of Serbia. This production was continued by the DFY/FPRY Film Enterprise at first (until 1946) and then by the Zvezda film federal enterprise. On 1 July 1950, this production was taken over by the newly established Central Filmed News Enterprise (Filmed News as of 1955). From 1948 onwards, the yearly output amounted to 52 weekly newsreels and 12 monthly ones and eight Film Reviews. Filmed News (now a federal public enterprise) has not been producing newsreels since 1990. Instead of that, it is producing filmed documentation and films on order and renting out film production facilities.
SPECIAL-PURPOSE FILMS The production of this kind of films used to be an integral part of the film industry and something done by classical film producers. However, specialisation was introduced in due course, so that the production of scientific and technological films was taken over by the television and that of the commercials, which have to be up to high international standards, by specialised firms engaged in marketing exclusively. Besides domestic enterprises, such as Spectra, Mark-plan and Idea Plus, also the internationally renowned advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and Mother & Ogilvy are operating in the Yugoslav film industry.
CO-OPERATION WITH FOREIGN FILM-MAKERS The first-ever true co-productions in the Yugoslav film industry occured after the Second World War and involved producers from Austria. These were the films entitled Adventures of the Beautiful Irena (Nezgode lepe Irene), 1953, and The Last Bridge (Poslednji most), 1954, both by Helmut Keutner. The most successful co-production from the artistic and economic aspects alike was the Highway Hell (Krvavi put), 1955. It was co-directed by Rados Novakovic and Kare Bekstrom and it involved a Norwegian producer. Financial and artistic investments were shared in co-production films, resulting in smaller risks in the domestic market and easier access to third markets, so that Yugoslavia was an interesting country because of its wide variety of shooting sites, price competitiveness, skilled labour force and availability of equipment.
The number of co-productions kept growing from 1955 to 1976 (Table III).
Although the number of countries with which films were CO-produced kept increasing, most films were made together with producers from Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Norway, Poland, Soviet Union and USA.
The number of CO-productions kept decreasing from 1976 onwards, but two more forms of international co-operation emerged in film production: CO-participation and technical services, which became very attractive to the Yugoslav film industry. Since such matters did not have to be registered, it would be difficult to establish the actual number of such arrangements, which is particularly difficult for short and documentary films.
Following a brief standstill, a turning point was reached in 1995, when as much as four films were CO-produced: Underground (Podzemlje), Somebody Else's America (Tuda Amerika), An Uproarious Tragedy (Urnebesna tragedija) and Odysseus View (Odisejev pogled). All of these films won prizes at international film festivals in that year (1995), the highest being the Golden Palm awarded to director Emir Kusturica for his film Underground (that was his second Golden Palm).
CO-OPERATION WITH THE TELEVISION The showing of films on the television began as a regular practice in 1956, when the television broadcasting was started up for the first time in Yugoslavia. The number of films shown on the television kept increasing all the time. Local private TV stations, whose programmes are also based on film broadcasting, also began to crop up in Yugoslavia from 1991 onwards (according to available information, there were about 70 TV stations and about 10 cable TV networks in 1996), so that it would be very difficult to determine the actual number of films shown. For the time being, these stations are neither interested in co-operating with the Yugoslav film industry in some other way, nor are they capable of doing so.
However, besides showing films, the state-run television has also been co-operating with the Yugoslav film industry in other ways.
The domestic film industry was undergoing a crisis in the sixties and it was required of it to operate as profitably as possible. Consequently, the TV comedy serials by Radivoje Lola Djukic, in which Miodrag Petrovic Ckalja and Mija Aleksic were starring, were used for making films. Thus, the Service Station (Servisna stanica) serial, 1961, was used for making the films Your Luck is in Your Bag (Sreca u torbi) and Small Gods do not Exist (Nema malih bogova) and the serial The Mirror of Citizen Pokorni (Ogledalo gradanina Pokornog), 1965, for making the film Stay Still Citizen Pokorni (Na mestu gradanine Pokorni). This kind of co-operation was put to an end in 1970, when the film Burdus (Burdus) was made from the popular TV serial The Musicians (Muzikanti).
Because of a shortage of funds in the 1970-1980 period, the film industry was taking over plays from the television. It exploited them as cinema films at first and then showed them on the television. That is how the films The Testament (Testament), 1975, Pavilion VI (Paviljon VI), 1978, Earth Days are Passing (Zemaljski dani teku), 1979, and others came into being.
After 1980, the co-operation between the film industry and television was taking place on an equal footing, involving three forms. (1) TV serials made on the basis of popular films, e.g., The Balkan Express (Balkan ekspres), 1983, by Branko Baletic; (2) feature films made from popular serials, e.g., The Lorry Drivers are Back (Kamiondzije opet voze), 1984, by Milo Bukanovic; (3) concurrent production of TV serials and films, e.g., The Leaves are Broad (Siroko je lisce), 1980, by Petar Latinovic or 13 July (13. jul), 1982, by Radomir Saranovic.
Besides these three forms of co-operation, co-operation was also established in the late eighties in the production of feature films, the provisions for which were also made in the 1991 Film Industry Law of the Republic of Serbia (Article 19 of that law made it obligatory for the television to take part in the production of the feature and documentary films included in the plan of the Ministry of Culture). Of the 55 feature films made in Yugoslavia in this period until 1997, 43 or 78% were made in co-operation with the television, while 12 or 22% were made by producers independently.
In the production of documentaries, the co-operation with the television was of an even more special character, because the television took over many genres from the documentary film and incorporated them in its programmes completely, as is the case with the popular science, teaching and travel films.
FILM SHOWING Before proper cinemas were opened in what is now the FR of Yugoslavia, films were being shown in rented for the occasion restaurants and fire brigade, sports, dance and other halls. The cinema network inherited in Yugoslavia after the Second World War (consisting of about 400 units) was unevenly distributed and fragmentised, i.e., most cinemas were one-man businesses having only one or possibly two to three halls. After the Second World war, when the attitude to the film industry changed, recognising it as a part of national culture and arts, also the cinemas changed their purpose, because they became places of an informative, cultural and, in the last place, entertaining nature. However, despite these changes, the film showing sector was still characterised by the lowest level of organisation.
Thanks to the implementation of the cinema network expansion programme started up in the period of centralised administration and continued after 1951 in somewhat different circumstances, the number of cinemas kept increasing until 1967, when it reached 1,765 in the then Yugoslavia as a whole. It has been decreasing ever since.
The decrease in the number of cinemas was also paralleled by a decrease in the number of cinema-goers, ratio of the domestic to foreign film audience and per capita cinema-going rate (Table V and Chart III).
The number of cinemas and the number of shows and cinema-goers have been increasing gradually since 1995 and this has been paralleled by many changes dictating the future expansion of cinemas in Yugoslavia. In the first place, there are the changes in the ownership structure. Namely, many halls of the workers' and popular universities, cultural clubs, youth clubs and the like, in which films used to be shown from time to time, have been rented and remodelled by private distributors who by doing so, set up a parallel cinema network of their own. At the end of 1997, there were 14 such cinemas in Belgrade and one in Novi Sad. There were none in other towns. These changes were essentially followed by the introduction of the stereo-Dolby sound and DVS systems. Moreover, exclusively thanks to the initiative of private distributors, multiplex cinemas (having several halls) are also being opened, like in the Labour Union Club in Belgrade, which has three cinema halls at present.
