The Harriman Institute

Together with The Program in Hellenic Studies, The School of the Arts Film Division, and the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, and with the gracious support of The Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival, The Consulate General of the Hellenic Republic, The Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia, The Consulate General of the Republic of Slovenia and the Romanian Cultural Institute

present

NEW BALKAN FILM

March 5 – 7, 2009

Columbia University in the City of New York

The fall of the Iron Curtain and the secessionist wars in the ex-Yugoslavia provoked considerable international interest in the Balkans throughout the last decade of the twentieth-century. These same events also engaged the creative powers of a set of film directors-Angelopoulos, Kusturica, Manchevski-, whose films garnered wide acclaim at festivals and sparked controversy in discussions of film. This multidisciplinary conference considers contemporary Balkan film made after this tumultuous decade. For while events in the region may have calmed, directors from the region continue to leave their mark. The conference features six films released within the last five years, to be screened in the presence of, and in conversation with, their directors. It also brings together scholars from Columbia University with an international group of critics drawn from the disciplines of film studies, literary, cultural and gender studies, sociology, and art history. Together, they will discuss new trends, transformations, and concerns of a new generation of Balkan filmmakers.

Thursday 3/5/2009, 511 Dodge Hall, School of the Arts

Welcoming Remarks

6:05 PM

Gordon N. Bardos, Harriman Institute

Vangelis Calotychos, Program in Hellenic Studies

Film Screenings:

6:10-8:50 PM

THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU (2005, d. Cristi Puiu) 150 min, Romania

Introduced by Mihai Chiriliov, Director, Transilvania International Film Festival

9:00-10:30 PM

ARMIN (2007, d. Ognjen Sviličić) 82 min, Croatia

Ognjen Sviličić will be introduced by Yvonne Živković, Department of German and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

Friday 3/6/2009, Room 569, Alfred Lerner Hall

Conference panels:

9:30 AM. – 11: 15 AM.

Panel I– URBAN SPACES AND "PLANET YUGOSLAVIA "

                Organized by the Slavic Department, Columbia University

Chairs: Andrey Shcherbenok, Columbia University

                        Mitja Velikonja, University of Ljubljana

Presenters:     

                        "'This City Is Killing Me'": Arsen Anton Ostojic's That Wonderful Night in Split ."

                        Tench Coxe, Columbia University

                        "A Promising City , a City-Grave: Misa Radivojevic's Belgrade Allegories."

                        Marijeta Božović, Columbia University

                        "Marina Abramovic's Planet Yugoslavia ."

                        Eszter Polonyi, Columbia University

                       

11:30 AM- 1:15 PM

 

Panel II –        POST-WAR CULTURES

                        Organized by the Program in Hellenic Studies, Columbia University

Chair:               Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia University

Presenters:       

                        "'Family Resemblance' in the New Balkan Cinema."

                        Dušan I. Bjelić, University of Southern Maine

                        "From Angelopoulos to Anastopoulos: Migrations in Greek Film and the Balkan Prospect."

                        Vangelis Calotychos, Columbia University

                        New Romanian Cinema: A Personal Retrospective

                        Mihai Chirilov, Director, Transilvania International Film Festival

            

1:15 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. LUNCH BREAK

2:30 PM – 3:45 PM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

 

JANE GAINES

Professor of Film, Columbia University

 

"Four Months, Three Weeks, and Two Days: The Marxism in Melodrama Theory"

 

4:30 P.M. – 7:00 P.M Altschul Auditorium (417 IAB)

Film Screenings:

THE TRAP (2007, d. Srdan Golubović) 106 min, Serbia

Srdan Golubović will be introduced by Biljana Ilić, Film Program, Columbia School of the Arts

7:00-7:30PM-Reception hosted by the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia

7:30-9:30 PM

ESTRELLITA (2007, d. Metod Pevec) 97 min, Slovenia

Metod Pevec will be introduced by Eszter Polonyi, Art History Department, Columbia University

 

Saturday 3/7/2009, Altschul Auditorium (417 IAB)

10 AM – 11:45 PM

Panel III –      PROJECTING POLITICS

Organized by the Film Division, School of the Arts, Columbia University

Chair:              Richard Peña, Columbia University

Presenters:       

"Kino-Commune, Or Filmmaking as Direct Socio-Political Intervention."

 Pavle Levi, Stanford University

"From the Longue Durée to the Courte Durée:  Balkan Cinema after the 1990s."

Marinos Pourgouris, Brown University

                       

"Balkan films in Balkan Cultures: Projecting Gender on the Screen of Patriarchy"

Svetlana Slapšak, Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis, Ljubljana and Editor-in Chief, ProFemina

11:45- 1:00 P.M. LUNCH BREAK

1:00-3:00 PM

Film Screenings:

SNOW (2008, d. Aida Begić) 100 min, Bosnia

Aida Begić will be introduced by Ipek Celik, Department of Comparative Literature, New York University

Coffee break

3:30-5:30 PM

CORRECTION (2007, d. Thanos Anastopoulos) 87 min, Greece

Thanos Anastopoulos will be introduced by Diana Wade, Film Division, Columbia

PANEL IV: DISCUSSION WITH THE DIRECTORS

6:00 P.M.

Chair: Richard Peña, Columbia University

Discussion with the directors: Ognjen Sviličić, Metod Pevec, Aida Begić, Srdan Golubović, Thanos Anastopoulos