Page 152 - Darko Štrajn, From Walter Benjamin to the End of Cinema: Identities, Illusion and Signification. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2017. Digital Library, Dissertationes, 29.
P. 152
from walter benjamin to the end of cinema
post-socialist Slovenia. Their work generally represents a significant par-
adigm shift and a change of the aesthetic code. The Slovenian cinema left
behind its submissive attitude towards the canonised “national” literature.
It moved towards a variety of productions such as genre films, parody in
a manner of absurdist humour and it still insisted on critical reflections
of social realities. The trend keeps being perceptible after the year 2000.
Throughout this time the topic of ethnic intolerance, which Robar Dorin
brought out so impressively in the 1980s, kept being reintroduced, decon-
structed and demystified in a string of films such as Outsider (by Košak
- 1997), Stereotip (Stereotype by Kozole – 1998), Venice film festival debut
award winner Kruh in mleko (Bread and Milk by Cvitković – 2001), Kajmak
in marmelada (Cheese and Jam by Branko Djurić – 2003) and Rezervni deli
(Spare Parts by Kozole – 2003). However, the impact of these movies dif-
fers from the Dorin’s as they enter into the category of already European
films, which externalise the split identities in the increasingly multi-cultur-
al context. Films by Podgoršek (Temni angeli usode – Dark Angels – 1999
and Sladke sanje, Sweet Dreams – 2001) could be broadly linked to the phe-
nomena of the Slovenian cult rock group Laibach and the group of painters,
known as Irwin. What happened to be an imitative gesture of power under
socialism in Laibach’s performances, transforms now into a re-creation of
the myth, exploited for making representations of universally recognisable
patterns of fear, hatred and “dark” political signifiers. These trends and a
number of new directors later led even much further towards the world cin-
ema. Much differently from this, a special significance should be attached
to the phenomena of new types of productions, based on the accessibili-
ty of digital technology, which made possible a part of work of Vlado Škaf-
ar and especially a breakthrough of Mitja Okorn. Škafar, who on one hand
has an oeuvre in documentaries, is on the other hand an author with a
taste for portrayals of special intimate relationships. So he, for example,
after a few years of recording, made a digital film Nočni pogovori z Mojco
(Night Talks to Mojca – 2010), which is only accessible on DVD, distributed
among friends and shown on exclusive screenings in art cinemas. The film
follows developments of interpersonal links between the radio night talk
show leader and phone callers, identified only by their first names. His fea-
ture film Oča (Dad – 2010) deals with subtleties of rapport between a father
and his young son with some grim signals of social crisis. The film includes
a few documentary scenes from textile factory workers’ strike. Škafar’s film
has got some acclaim by the critics at Venice film festival. Mitja Okorn, the
150
post-socialist Slovenia. Their work generally represents a significant par-
adigm shift and a change of the aesthetic code. The Slovenian cinema left
behind its submissive attitude towards the canonised “national” literature.
It moved towards a variety of productions such as genre films, parody in
a manner of absurdist humour and it still insisted on critical reflections
of social realities. The trend keeps being perceptible after the year 2000.
Throughout this time the topic of ethnic intolerance, which Robar Dorin
brought out so impressively in the 1980s, kept being reintroduced, decon-
structed and demystified in a string of films such as Outsider (by Košak
- 1997), Stereotip (Stereotype by Kozole – 1998), Venice film festival debut
award winner Kruh in mleko (Bread and Milk by Cvitković – 2001), Kajmak
in marmelada (Cheese and Jam by Branko Djurić – 2003) and Rezervni deli
(Spare Parts by Kozole – 2003). However, the impact of these movies dif-
fers from the Dorin’s as they enter into the category of already European
films, which externalise the split identities in the increasingly multi-cultur-
al context. Films by Podgoršek (Temni angeli usode – Dark Angels – 1999
and Sladke sanje, Sweet Dreams – 2001) could be broadly linked to the phe-
nomena of the Slovenian cult rock group Laibach and the group of painters,
known as Irwin. What happened to be an imitative gesture of power under
socialism in Laibach’s performances, transforms now into a re-creation of
the myth, exploited for making representations of universally recognisable
patterns of fear, hatred and “dark” political signifiers. These trends and a
number of new directors later led even much further towards the world cin-
ema. Much differently from this, a special significance should be attached
to the phenomena of new types of productions, based on the accessibili-
ty of digital technology, which made possible a part of work of Vlado Škaf-
ar and especially a breakthrough of Mitja Okorn. Škafar, who on one hand
has an oeuvre in documentaries, is on the other hand an author with a
taste for portrayals of special intimate relationships. So he, for example,
after a few years of recording, made a digital film Nočni pogovori z Mojco
(Night Talks to Mojca – 2010), which is only accessible on DVD, distributed
among friends and shown on exclusive screenings in art cinemas. The film
follows developments of interpersonal links between the radio night talk
show leader and phone callers, identified only by their first names. His fea-
ture film Oča (Dad – 2010) deals with subtleties of rapport between a father
and his young son with some grim signals of social crisis. The film includes
a few documentary scenes from textile factory workers’ strike. Škafar’s film
has got some acclaim by the critics at Venice film festival. Mitja Okorn, the
150
