The Harriman Institute, Columbia University NYC, in partnership with the Program in Hellenic Studies, the School of the Arts Film Division and the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, and with the support of Bosnia-Herzegovinian Film Festival, the Consulate General of the Hellenic Republic, the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia, the Romanian Cultural Institute and the Consulate-General of Slovenia, present:

New Balkan Film — A Festival and Multidisciplinary Conference Examining New Directions in Balkan Cinema

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.

Internationally acclaimed Romanian film The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, by Cristi Puiu, will be presented as the Opening Film of the festival on THU, March 5, 6:10 pm.

Participants will include: Thanos Anastopoulos (Greece; director, “Correction,” 2007); Aida Begic (Bosnia-Herzegovina; director, “Snow,” 2008), Srdjan Golubovic (Serbia; director, “The Trap,” 2007); Metod Pevec (Slovenia; director, “Estrellita,” 2007); Mihai Chirilov (Romania; film critic) and Ognjen Svilicic (Croatia; director, “Armin,” 2007).

PROGRAM:

THU, March 5 | 511 Dodge Hall, School of the Arts

6:05 pm           
Welcoming Remarks: Gordon N. Bardos, Harriman Institute, & Vangelis Calotychos, Program in Hellenic Studies

6:10 pm           
THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU (2005, d. Cristi Puiu) 150 min, Romania
Introduced by Mihai Chiriliov, Director, Transylvania International Film Festival

9:00 pm
ARMIN (2007, d. Ognjen Sviličić) 82 min, Croatia
Introduced by Yvonne Živković, Department of German and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

FRI, March 6 | 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, Transylvania International Film Festival

2:30 pm – 3:45 pm
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days: The Marxism in Melodrama Theory”, Jane Gaines, Professor of Film, Columbia University

4:30 pm – 7:00 pm | Altschul Auditorium (417 IAB)

FILM SCREENINGS:

4:30 pm
THE TRAP (2007, d. Srdan Golubović) 106 min, Serbia
Introduced by Biljana Ilić, Film Program, Columbia School of the Arts

7:30 pm
ESTRELLITA (2007, d. Metod Pevec) 97 min, Slovenia
Introduced by Eszter Polonyi, Art History Department, Columbia University

SAT, March 7 | Altschul Auditorium (417 IAB)

10 am – 11:45 am
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

FILM SCREENINGS:

1:00 pm
SNOW (2008, d. Aida Begić) 100 min, Bosnia
Introduced by Ipek Celik, Department of Comparative Literature, New York University

3:30 pm
CORRECTION (2007, d. Thanos Anastopoulos) 87 min, Greece
Introduced by Diana Wade, Film Division, Columbia University

6:00 pm
PANEL IV: DISCUSSION WITH THE DIRECTORS
Chair: Richard Peña, Columbia University
Discussion with the directors: Ognjen Sviličić, Metod Pevec, Aida Begić, Srdan Golubović, Thanos Anastopoulos

[Image: Actors Ion Fiscuteanu and Luminita Gheorghiu in "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu"]