Fifteen selected films of the Yugoslavian director Želimir Žilnik will meet the film lovers at the 27th Ankara International Film Festival; with main sponsor as Halkbank and the support of Culture and Tourism Ministry; under the selection We Couldn’t Have Come From This Far Away! There will also be a panel with the director of the ones who cannot represent themselves, a nickname given to him for his films.

One of the most exciting selections at this year’s festival consists of the films of Želimir Žilnik, one of the most successful and unique dark wave directors. From the period that caused his exile; to where he was exiled to and had to leave, Germany and what he has witnessed there, and neo-liberal policies that got stronger after Yugoslavia, where he returned, was divided; the selection summarizes a large historical period through the eyes of Žilnik.

The works of the director who questions the system, points out the faults, objects economical injustice and neo-liberal policies and tries to forsee the new world order with his films, won many awards not only at national festivals, but also at a large number of international festivals.

The Yugoslavian director that says ‘the reality is black, not the films’, still gives talks at festivals, conferances and symposiums as well as teaching at several universities around the world.

HERE ARE THOSE FILMS

The films of the director that will be available during the festival, under the selection We Shouldn’t Have Come From This Far Away! are;

- His first documentary film where he touches subjects like social lives and hopelessness of youth and the conflicts that arise from generation gap, Newsreel on Village Youth, in Winter
- Little Pioneers, where he talks about children that are socially neglected, steal and sexually abused.
- His first fictional feature film Early Works
- The Unemployed, where he tells the despair of the unemployed and how their desire of immigration
- Short documentaries June Turmoil and Black Film
- Inventory, where he tells the stories of guest workers/immigrants that came to Germany from the Balkans in hopes of a better life.
- Post-Yugoslavian cinema’s first confrontation with the past, the documentary Tito Among the Serbs for the Second Time.
- His films that made a mark in the 90’s cinema, Throwing off the Yolks of Bondage and For Ella
- The Kenedi Triology, which he shot only one year apart; Kenedi Goes Back Home; Kenedi, Lost and Found; and Kenedi is Getting Married.
- The Old School of Capitalizm, where he shows the effects of neo-liberal policies on geography.
- His latest film Logbook_Serbistan