In the Empty Archives of the Yugoslav Documentary and Short Film FestivalCurating Conflicting Memories of War

This article compares archival, programming and editorial practices of the Yugoslav/Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival across three phases: its socialist Belgrade years when it endorsed the values of Yugoslav federalism (1960–1991), its post-socialist transformation when it retained its Yugoslav name, but abandoned its Yugoslav profile (1991–2004), and its contemporary development as an international event in a neoliberal context (since 2004). Founded in 1954 in the city of Pula, the festival initially presented the full spectrum of Yugoslav film production. In 1960 the documentary and short film segment was transferred to Belgrade to provide it with a dedicated platform. This Belgrade-based festival has continued without interruption ever since, taking place even during the 1990s, as the country in whose interests it had been created was collapsing. The article investigates how war influenced the choice of screened films, archived documents, and their representation in the catalogues, and how, in turn, these choices contributed to the construction of conflicting memories of war. By looking into the dynamics of continuities and ruptures within these two interrelated processes, the analysis highlights the use of invented traditions for shaping favorable cultural memories in turbulent political circumstances of post-war state formation, wartime state deconstruction, and the contemporary cultural positioning of a small nation-state in the post-Yugoslav context.