Cinema Komunisto Trailer (2011)

Inside the former Yugoslavia is another Yugoslavia, a cinematic confection that sought to link six nations in brotherhood. Marshal Tito, a fervent cinephile, saw the potential of a great Yugoslavian school of cinema to win hearts and minds. With this goal in mind, he founded Avala Film in 1945. The aim was to rival both the Soviet Union and Hollywood, and to produce up to 50 films a year, all advancing the image of Yugoslavia as a socialist utopia. The quantity never quite reached expectations, but the technical quality was high. Not-so-realistic ‘documentaries’ presented telegenic youth who sang while building railroads. Quiet narrative films told stories of individual honour and self-sacrifice for the good of the collective. Unearthing footage from these forgotten productions, Cinema Komunisto, in high-contrast black and white and terrifically campy Technicolor, captures traces of a dream that was never to be.