East European Film Bulletin

Proposals: June 15, 2022

Papers due: November, 15 2022

In the late 1950s and 1960s, experimental cinema in the Balkans developed away from the mainstream despite occasional official support. Experimental cinema often originated in socalled amateur film, and flourished in numerous cinema clubs in all major cities of the former Yugoslavian federation. However, the cinema clubs were also part of the socialist project of spreading art to all layers of society. In the 1970s artistic activity and forms of provocation continued to be produced clandestinely despite the reinforcement of censorship of Marshal Tito’s regime. The "New Art Practice", a generation of artists active in Yugoslavia in the late 1960s and the 1970s, practiced experimentation in art, turning the traditional studio to artist-run spaces, creating multimedia performances in the street, as well as experimental publications. The concept of “anti-films” thrived, especially supported by the Genre Experimental Film Festival (GEFF). With the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, cinematic practices branched out to a questioning of memory and identity, often through an ethno-anthropological gaze. In recent years, questions of ethnic identity remain relevant, but experimental cinema has expanded into diverse forms and subjects – gender, ecology, a return to folk mythology among others. Much of this has been approached through contemporary technological explorations of digitality or analogue media.

As part of its 2022 Balkans focus, the East European Film Bulletin is preparing a special issue on experimental cinema, including experimental documentary, video and moving-image art and new media. We are looking for essay-length contributions that should discuss current and past trends of these art forms in the Balkans (or of Balkan artists from abroad) and/or contributions that focus on the work(s) of a particular artist.

We are particularly interested in discussions on the work(s) of: Marina Abramović., Neša Paripović, Sanja Iveković, Dalibor Martinis, Maria Kourkouta, Marianna Christofide, Goran Trbuljak, Igor Toholj, Jurij Meden

Publications should be in English.

Proposals should be sent to editors@eefb.org

Stylistic guidelines for essays published in our journal can be found here.

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