Silvan Furlan

A Fragmentary Picture of the 70s and 80s

There are many interesting periods and developments in Slovenian film history that have yet to be adequately documented and examined. One of these is the "amateur/alternative" film movement, which we will henceforth refer to as "a/a". This article will attempt to describe developments in this "genre" in the 70s and 80s. The Slovenska Kinoteka (Slovene Cinémathèque, Ljubljana) and the Slovenski Filmski Arhiv (Slovene Film Archive at the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia) have established a research initiative into this period and genre which, as it turns out, represents an important part of the region's visual culture of an era. Since January, the Slovenska kinoteka has programmed a monthly series, "Slovene a/a film," dedicated to the exploration of this film tradition. The series began with the presentation of the experimental feature film Daily News (1979; dir. Franci Slak), and continued with animation films by Zvonko Coh and Milan Eric, and a program of short a/a films from the 50s by Bostjan Hladnik. The April program showed rarely seen films by Vinko Rozman, and later evenings dedicated to the work of Vasko Pregelj, Nasko Kriznar and Karpo Godina are planned at the Kinoteka. At the conclusion of the retrospective series, the Kinoteka and the Arhiv intend to compile a permanent collection of Slovene a/a film and to publish a book documenting this important part of the Slovene cinematic tradition.

Perhaps because cinema itself was slow to take hold in Slovenia, the
tradition of Slovene film does not have a direct connection with the mainstream European avant-garde movements (Impressionism, Constructivism, Futurism, etc.). But despite its lack of connection to the international experimental styles of the 20s, the type of film we have identified as a/a represents for the Slovenian context a sort of avant-garde, a tradition of difference, experimentation, and in general distance from the sanctioned practices of film-making. Slovenian a/a has a closer relation to the Lumiere form of visual inquiry, a documentary approach to visual experiment that has less to do with the more theoretically driven avant-gardes of Western Europe or the Soviet Union. Some of the first important experiments in the Slovene context came in the 50s (Hladnik), followed in the 60s by individuals (Rozman, Godina, Pregelj) and also some collectives (the group OHO). Some of this work arose as a kind of parallel or remainder to the state film production monopolies such as Triglav and Viba, but as a rule, these films were the products of strictly amateur production techniques, generally employing 8mm, S8mm or 16mm film (and giving way completely in the 80s to video production). Today, the amateur film formats are considered nostalgic, or even historical.

The beginnings of Slovene a/a film can be traced to Bostjan Hladnik. Although Hladnik's career has yet to be comprehensively documented. Lilijana Nedic's systematic filmography of Hladnik's work appears in a book about the 1961 film Ples v dezju (Dance in the Rain) by Zenko Vrdlovec. This book, "Ples v dezju": by Slovenski gledaliki in filmski muzej (Ljubljana, 1991), describes some of Hladnik's creative work. He began his a/a film production in 1947, the year of the remarkable Deklica v gorah (A Girl in the Mountains), a film in 8mm black-and-white without state subsidy and created outside of official circles of film production which is definitely in the a/a tradition. It is interesting that this film was made the same year as the first Slovene sound feature, France Stiglic's Na svoji zemlji (On Our Own Land). Up until 1945, film production had been almost entirely amateur and private in nature. A "cinema system", which was co-financed by the state (production, distribution, regular reviews and publicity) arose only after the Second World War in Slovenia. It is probably no coincidence that the creation of a state cinema coincided with the appropriation of amateur means of non-official expression. Hladnik's personal productions of the 50s (eg. Pravljica o ljubezni/A Fairy Tale about Love of 1954) as well as his work with Triglav, the state film production company (eg., Fantasticna balada/A Fantastic Ballad of 1957) reveals a decidedly experimental tendency.

After Hladnik's work, there was a relatively active ambient of a/a production which existed from the 50s to the 70s. The activities of the OHO group are the best documented of these development, but an adequately comprehensive and accurate account of this period has yet to be written. One important part of this history will be that of the SKuC/Studenski Kulturni Center, which was known in its various phases under the names Center for Student Amateur Film, Center for Student Film, Film Redaction and then E-Motion Film. This Center had as its goal the support of a wide range of alternative and experimental activities in the sphere of film culture. For more than twenty years, SKuC supported, stimulated, exhibited and encouraged all forms of production and film-related activities that had been marginalized by the intolerant bureaucracies of official socialist culture. A complete and balanced evaluation of SKuC's contribution to Slovenian culture has not yet been made, but it is clear that this organization was one of the few that provided alternatives to the one-dimensional cultural policy of the state.

SKuC was active in exhibition as well as production, and the contribution of this entity to educational and critical film culture in Slovenia in the 70s was very important, especially in the area of student and amateur film-making. The legendary film presentations that took place in the discotheque in Block IV of the students' hostel included programs of film experiments by Franci Slak, Matjaz Zbontar, and other members of the student film group, as well as work by the professional film-maker Filip Robar. Other exceptional evenings at the "Kinoteka" included films by the Sarajevo director Ivica Matic, and the program of student films from the Film Academy in Lodz. The history of SKuC breaks down into three periods:

The "learning years" were an innocent time of ecstatic discovery. Members of SKuC along with the younger editors of the magazine Ekran and members of the Slovene Film Workers Association saw and debated the new Slovenian films. At the same time, a movement was growing within the a/a community that demonstrated in its manifestoes and homages an awareness and affinity to the new European cinemas, especially that of Germany. These activities were mostly literary in nature, and actual production was modest. At the end of the 70s, the remarkable Filip Robar came on the scene with his zealous demands for a new, younger a/a type of Slovene cinema. Robar moved on in the 80s into film-making, proving that the unsanctioned, unregulated film-making which had seemed impossible and sacrilegious to the state could in fact be done outside of official production as a sort of excess. His unconventional, individualistic film experiments, produced under the name of his company, Filmske Alternative, became virtually synonymous with the term a/a. As the state film monopolies, Triglav and Viba Film entered a period of terminal senescence, the model provided by Robar (later to be taken up by E-motion Film) came to the fore as a viable alternative. During this "heroic" period for Slovenian cinema culture, there were other developments related to the reinvigoration of a/a production. The young editors of Ekran completely reoriented the magazine and participated in the new regime of exhibition at the Kinoteka (for example, a program of films from FEKS, and a retrospective of 30s Hollywood cinema). All kinds of ideas about genre film, art film and the rehabilitation of film culture were conducted outside the context of official sanction.

The second period of SKuC (1979-85) saw the position of Film Redaction strengthened, and the alternative movement began to play a more significant role in Slovenia cultural life. Numerous screenings of experimental films, art cinema and other kinds of non-official work provided an important option for audiences and proved the viability of a/a film as a strong and deeply rooted option for Slovenia film-makers. This period saw the presentation of several cycles of New German cinema, as well as retrospectives of Fassbinder, Herzog, Pasolini, Duras, Rivette, Schmid, McLaren, Jost, Lambert, Warhol and Zilnik. There was "Hunting a Mammoth," the retrospective of Yugoslavian alternative film, and several compilations of Slovene and Yugoslavian a/a production (Slak, Robar, Virant, Marc, Valentincic, Zdravic, Memon, Zorga, Bibic, Skvor, Gotovak, Faktor, Petek, Galeta, Jovanovic, Simunic), German, English, Canadian and French avant-garde shows. We also saw shows from the Bela Balazs Studio from Budapest, the Millenium Film Center (New York), films from the Third Reich, Chinese films, films by independents (Horn, Rose, Petit, Beiserdorf, Greenaway, LeGrice, Fleischer), and the first organized video projections (Nusa and Sreco Dragan, selected American and French video art). The Wim Wenders retrospective was an exceptionally complete project, including a published catalog.

Among the productions originating in the SKuC circle which were screened during this time, we must cite Kras88 (a group project), Aura and Aurovision, Slobodan Valentincic's 805 Hommage, Ej Klanje, La popolazine, Ona ni ranjena (She is not Hurt) by Davorin Marc, Daily News, Zemlja Mesec (The Earth and the Moon) and Vaje za kamero (Rehearsals for the Camera) by Franci Slak, Zakaj si verjel Avgust 83 (Why Did You Believe August 83) by Janco Virant, Od tod no vecnosti (From Here To Eternity) by Vasja Bibic, Tiho Zitje (Still Life) and Neboticnic (Skyscraper) by Bojan Zorga, Cassus beli (Cassus the white) by Marco Kovacic, No fun by Igor Virovec, MM ali miserij video masohizma (MM or the Mystery of Video Masochism) by Mojca Dreu, Juvencij Levovnik, Melita Zajc and Ales Kranjc.

Thus, between 1979 and 1985, the Film Redaction at SKuC formed a vital part of the cinema culture of Slovenia, presenting the a/a film and encouraging its production. At that time the first 8mm Slovene feature, Daily news, directed by Franci Slak, was produced and supported by Film Redaction at SKuC. Films by Robar, Slak, Slobodan Valentincic, Davorin Marc and the animation of Eric/Coh were becoming a regular feature of the independent cinematic landscape. This period could be said to close with the production of the group project Kras 88, which can be seen as the aesthetic manifesto of a certain generation. Not only did this second period of SKuC see the rise of independent a/a production and the evolution of appropriate production techniques, but this movement actually had an impact on "professional" film-making in Slovenia.

The third period (1985-92) saw the Film Redaction at SKuC come into its own as a production force as well as an exhibition venue. The first permanent art cinema in Ljubljana, the Krizanke cinema, was the result of a 1988 initiative of SKuC. If Film Redaction (which changed its name to E-motion Films during this period) failed in its attempts to set up its own art cinema, it nevertheless succeeded in stimulating a great deal of a/a production, such as Damjan Kozole's first feature, Usodni Telefon (The Fatal Telephone; 16/35mm, b/w, 70 min.), and the 1982 film by Zvonko Coh and Milan Eric, Poskusaj migati dvakrat (Try Moving Twice; S8mm b/w, 45m.; second version: 1986; 16mm b/w, 28 m.). These young film-makers are striking and unconventional; Kozole's film is a "film about film", while the Eric/Coh animation explores pictorial dimensions of "omnipotent" animation. Although firmly within the a/a tradition, both of these films offer new aesthetic perspectives for Slovenian cinema.

Finally in the 90s, E-motion Film has moved into other developments, most notably, the 1991 feature Srcna dama (The Queen of Hearts; 35mm color, 98min.). Directed by Boris Jurjasevic, this film seems to be in the classic/traditional mode, and if it cannot be said to represent the a/a aesthetic, it may in fact signal the confluence of different forms of Slovenian production today.