| Yugoslav writer and film director Zivojin Pavlovic was born in Sabac, Serbia, in 1933.
He studied painting at the Belgrade Academy of Applied Arts. In the early sixties, he began his filmmaking career by directing two mid-length features. In 1965, he adapted Dostoyesky's short novel «The Double», into a feature entitled The Enemy, and in 1966, he made The Return. His next two films, The Rat's Awakening (1967) and When I'm Dead and White (1968) drew attention both within Yugoslavia and abroad. In 1969, The Ambush was deemed ideologically controversial, and though it was not banned, it never received an export visa. In 1970, he made Red Grain Stalks and began teaching filmmaking at Belgrade's Film School. Meanwhile, Pavlovic had also become an established novelist. However, his fame did not prevent him from being banned from teaching, his films accused of having «a pernicious effect on youth», his teaching methods of being «negative and pessimistic». After three years of silence, he was back in filmmaking again. His characters are often simple people, confronted by the cruelty of the world around them, a world where dreamers and idealists are soon done away with by those who can adapt and keep going in a merciless struggle for life.
FILMOGRAPHY (English titles) 1962 Live Water (mid-length feature) 1963 The Circle (mid-length feature) 1965 The Enemy 1966 The Return 1967 The Rat's Awakening When I'm Dead and White 1969 The Ambush 1971 Red Grain Stalks 1973 The Flight of the Dead Bird 1977 The Chase 1980 Goodbye, Until the next war 1983 The smell of the body 1987 The road to Katanga 1992 Deserter |
Budjenje pacovaYugoslavia 1967 THE RAT'S AWAKENING Velimir Bamberg lives a very lonely life. The only contact he has with the outside world is through the choral society to which he belongs. Bamberg has a sister who is ill. He would like to send her to the sea-side, but he can't afford it, and he doesn't want to do anything illegal. He refuses some dubious business offered to him by his friend, Lale, and tries to do the money elsewhere. Trying to improve his situation, he will become involved in a series of tragicomic situation end up by falling in love with a young woman. With her in his side, he feels he is ready to change this absurd life of his, and sets out to realize his plan with some money borrowed from a friend. However he will soon discover that it is not always so simple to change one's lot in life…. Direction: Zivojin Pavlovic. / Screenplay: Gordan Mihic, Ljubisa Kozomora. / Cinematography: Milorad Jak sic-Fandjo. / Editing: Olga Skrigin. / Sets: Dragoljub Ivkov. / Cast: Slobodan Perovic, Durisa Zegarac, Severin Bijelic, Mirjana Bla skovic. / Production: Centar Film. / World Sales: Centar Film, Beogradska 71, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tel.: 38 111 324 1281, fax: 38 111 323 2139. 35mm B&W 79' |
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Kad budem mrtav I beo Yugoslavia 1967 WHEN I'M DEAD AND WHITE Janko, nicknamed Dzimi, has to leave his temporary job as a seasonal worker, together with his girlfriend, Lilica. Unemployed, he sets off on an uncertain path through life. Despite his efforts, he is unable to find work. Trying to get some money, he steals from some construction workers, but while making his escape, loses Lilica. Dzimi's odyssey has begun. He learns how to sing by becoming the lover of a café singer, and goes on to perform a town fairs, remote military garrisons and small industrial settlements. One day, he meets a young dentist and decides to take part in a song contest in Belgrade. Booed off the stage, he abandons his singing career, and shortly thereafter runs into Lilica, who is making living by picking pockets and blackmailing man who have supposedly made her pregnant. Together, the two of them will devise a fatal money-making scheme. Direction: Zivojin Pavlovic. / Screenplay: Gordan Mihic, Ljubisa Kozomora. / Cinematography: Milorad JaÎ sic-Fandjo. / Editing: Olga Skrigin. / Sets: Dragoljub Ivkov. / Cast: Dragan Nikolic, Ru zica Sokic, Dara Calenic, Neda Spasojevic. / Production: Centar Film. / World Sales: Centar Film, Beogradska 71, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tel.: 38 111 3241 281, fax: 38 111 3232 139. 35mm B&W 80' |
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Let mrtve ptice THE FLIGHT OF THE DEAD BIRD Yugoslavia 1973 The action takes place in a Slovenian village at the Austrian border. In this region, all the villages are beautiful but appear practically deserted: only the old lie there continuously, since the younger people, both men and women, work in Austria, and only come home at weekends. The houses are overequipped, and all the latest farming machinery lies unused, since the man are all away. The film tells the story of a young woman who has stayed in the village, and whose husband, much older than her, is obsessed with problems of age and virility. Regarded as a mere object by her husband, she withdraws into solitude, while all she wants is to savour life to the full. Direction: Zivojin Pavlovic. / Screenplay: Branko Sömen. / Cinematography: Milorad Jak sic-Fandjo. / Editing: Olga Skrigin. / Music: Aleksander Vlaj. / Sets: Aljo sa Matanovic. / Cast: Leopold Bibic, Rudi Kosma'c, Janez Vrhovec, Marko Sim'cic. / Production: Viba Film, Ljubljana. /35mm Colour 100' |
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Dezerter Yugoslavia 1992 DESERTER Two friends, Pavle Trusic and Aleksa Veljacic, officers in the Yugoslav army and once in love with the same woman, Nadezda Trusic, meet again during the civil war. Pavle is now a refugee from Vukovar, and Aleksa is a military judge. They meet under dramatic circumstances, which culminate in the death of Pavle's daughter. It is uncertain whether the father of the unfortunate girl is Pavle or Aleksa. The drama develops into a new love-intrigue over the daughter of a deserter, with tragic results. The film focuses on the absurdity of war, the love story being a metaphor for treachery in wartime. Deserter was filmed on location in Belgrade and Vukovar. Direction: Zivojin Pavlovic. / Screenplay: Snezana Lukic, Zivojin Pavlovic. / Cinematography: Aleksandar Petkovic. / Editing: Olga Skrigin, Lana Vukobratovic. / Sets: Dragoljub Ivkov. / Cast: Rade Serbedzija, Rados Bajic, Renata Ulmanski, Mirko Babic, Milena Pavlovic. / Production: Centar Film, RTV Belgrade, TRZ Podijum. / World Sales : Centar Film. Beogradska 71, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tel: 38 111 1281, fax: 38 111 323 2139. / 35mm Colour 98' |
