Želimir Žilnik (Serbian Cyrillic: Желимир Жилник;
pronounced [Ê'ɛ̌limiË r Ê'îlniË k]; born 8 September 1942) is a
Serbian and Yugoslav filmmaker who rose to prominence in the late
1960s during the era of the Yugoslav Black Wave in cinema. He is noted
for his radical, independent film practice and his pioneering use of
hybrid nonfiction forms; he is also distinguished by his sociocritical
views and solidarity with movements against the status quo. In the
21st century he has been celebrated with major career retrospectives
all over the world and is now recognized as one of the most important
politically-engaged European filmmakers working today.Žilnik
graduated from law school (University of Novi Sad). Prior to that,
when he finished high school in his hometown of Novi Sad, he was
offered a position as program director at Youth Tribune, which was a
multidisciplinary cultural center in Novi Sad. It was here that
Žilnik received his first practical experience working in arts
management, and this position also allowed him to meet and collaborate
with many important figures on the Yugoslav cultural scene. Žilnik
worked in this capacity from 1961-63.In the early 1960s, Žilnik
joined Kino Club Novi Sad, which was a state-sponsored club for
nonprofessional film enthusiasts. This is where Žilnik received his
first practical experience in making films. Many of his films were
shown on the large kino club film festival circuit in Socialist
Yugoslavia. After a few years of sustained activity as a club member,
including some awards that confirmed him as a promising emerging
talent, Žilnik was offered a chance to work as an assistant at Avala
Film, and his first credit in feature-length filmmaking was as
assistant director to the legendary Dušan Makavejev on his early
masterpiece Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard
Operator, filmed in 1966. After that, Žilnik directed his first
professional documentary Newsreel on Village Youth, Winter, which
premiered in 1967. Žilnik received multiple prizes for this debut
film, which also announced his interest in documenting the situation
of people living on the margins of society.Žilnik made three other
short documentaries in the following years, including The Unemployed
in 1968, which was a humorous but critical investigation of the
conditions of ‘Gastarbeiters’ living and working between Socialist
Yugoslavia and West Germany. This was his first major international
success, winning the Grand Prix at Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen in Germany,
considered then and even today as the premier destination for short
film exhibition in Europe. At that point in his career Žilnik was
chosen by Avala Film to direct a narrative feature, and in 1968 he
began production on his debut feature-length film Early Works, which
would go on to mark his career in perpetuity and also to become the
climactic point in the public frenzy surrounding the turbulent moment
of the Black Wave in Yugoslav film.
pronounced [Ê'ɛ̌limiË r Ê'îlniË k]; born 8 September 1942) is a
Serbian and Yugoslav filmmaker who rose to prominence in the late
1960s during the era of the Yugoslav Black Wave in cinema. He is noted
for his radical, independent film practice and his pioneering use of
hybrid nonfiction forms; he is also distinguished by his sociocritical
views and solidarity with movements against the status quo. In the
21st century he has been celebrated with major career retrospectives
all over the world and is now recognized as one of the most important
politically-engaged European filmmakers working today.Žilnik
graduated from law school (University of Novi Sad). Prior to that,
when he finished high school in his hometown of Novi Sad, he was
offered a position as program director at Youth Tribune, which was a
multidisciplinary cultural center in Novi Sad. It was here that
Žilnik received his first practical experience working in arts
management, and this position also allowed him to meet and collaborate
with many important figures on the Yugoslav cultural scene. Žilnik
worked in this capacity from 1961-63.In the early 1960s, Žilnik
joined Kino Club Novi Sad, which was a state-sponsored club for
nonprofessional film enthusiasts. This is where Žilnik received his
first practical experience in making films. Many of his films were
shown on the large kino club film festival circuit in Socialist
Yugoslavia. After a few years of sustained activity as a club member,
including some awards that confirmed him as a promising emerging
talent, Žilnik was offered a chance to work as an assistant at Avala
Film, and his first credit in feature-length filmmaking was as
assistant director to the legendary Dušan Makavejev on his early
masterpiece Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard
Operator, filmed in 1966. After that, Žilnik directed his first
professional documentary Newsreel on Village Youth, Winter, which
premiered in 1967. Žilnik received multiple prizes for this debut
film, which also announced his interest in documenting the situation
of people living on the margins of society.Žilnik made three other
short documentaries in the following years, including The Unemployed
in 1968, which was a humorous but critical investigation of the
conditions of ‘Gastarbeiters’ living and working between Socialist
Yugoslavia and West Germany. This was his first major international
success, winning the Grand Prix at Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen in Germany,
considered then and even today as the premier destination for short
film exhibition in Europe. At that point in his career Žilnik was
chosen by Avala Film to direct a narrative feature, and in 1968 he
began production on his debut feature-length film Early Works, which
would go on to mark his career in perpetuity and also to become the
climactic point in the public frenzy surrounding the turbulent moment
of the Black Wave in Yugoslav film.
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