Mina Radović

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Andrei Rublev

Andrei Rublev: Through the life of monk, icon painter, Saint Andrei Rublev, the film shows us what it means to live and create before the face of the Loving God in the times of tribulations, both on the historical and personal level. A good companion in contemporary film is to be found in Yelena Popovic’s Man of God.

With Faith in God

Sa verom u Boga: Delicately expressing the trials brought upon the innocent and bringing out the endurance that only faith can provide, Mihajlo Al. Popović’s great silent film represents one of the earliest and to this day most dynamic representations of spiritual life on film.

Sabirini Centar

Sabirni Centar (The Meeting Point): An old archeologist arrives at ‘the meeting point’ between the worlds of the dead and the living and what follows is a truly cinematic experience which digs into your soul.

TABIAT-E BIJAN

Still Life: To construct cinematic space by means of silence, patience, and love is the gift of Iranian director Sohrab Shahid Saless. The labour of the lead character blossoms and with it our appreciation for the beauty of life.

One Day of Life

Un día de vida (One Day of Life): Emilio Fernández’s masterpiece tells the story of Mexico through the eyes of a mother. Mama Juanita is played by the marvelous Rosaura Revueltas and her signature character became a transnational icon.

Pretty Village, Pretty Flame

Pretty Village, Pretty Flame: The most subversive Serbian film of the 1990s, Dragojevic’s film is both the perfect introduction to the social, political, historical, and cultural specificity of Yugoslavia in the face of its destruction and a profound work of existential depth.

Démanty noci

Diamonds of the Night: Jan Němec’s film speaks about the Holocaust through the brilliant, rare combination of surrealism and realism. Featuring an unmatched use of the tracking shot, the film shows us the strength required of the soul when faced with the cruelty of the outside world.

PRZESLUCHANIE

Interrogation: Led by Krystyna Janda’s stellar performance, this Polish classic, which disappeared on its release, shows us how people can be destroyed but also transformed through suffering.

NAI-DULGATA NOSHT

The Longest Night: The best film ever made on a train, Vulo Radev’s The Longest Night is a heartfelt work of composition, dramaturgy, and character. The highlight is Nevena Kokanova who for good reason remains known as the first lady of Bulgarian cinema.

Zavestanje

Legacy: Built from over 450 hours of recorded testimonies of 94 witnesses, an outstanding documentary of meticulous precision and poetry, Legacy is a cinematic memorial to the Serbian victims of the genocide in the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945).

Further remarks

I am grateful for being able to share the films presented here with you and would like them to be doors through which we can discover cinema anew. To this selection, I would add the collected works of Branko Bauer and Živojin Pavlović which serve as ever-bountiful sources of inspiration.