The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

Julv-August, 1952 THE C I N E T E C H N I C I A X 77 Domestic films are naturally the most popular, having an understandable dialogue. Pride in their own achievements does not prevent a great deal of criticism at times, however. Partisan fighting and the war gave rise to most earlier films but recently they have turned to their great wealth of traditional music and dancing. Many documentary films have been made in addition to features, and some of them have been praised at International Film Festivals. The only newsreels that are produced regularly are more like magazine films, as there has been no competent newsreel production. Foreign stories are sometimes used now, and their better quality may help to inspire local technicians. A puppet film has recently been completed, and there have been some trick and cartoon films, mainly for propaganda purposes. Before we left Yugoslavia we saw the beginning of the change in the administration from a central bureaucratic control to one that should give independence to each separate film production enterprise. It is one of the first moves to put film production on a firm foundation, without losing the benefits of a state owned industry. The Central Committee was dissolved, and its president, Vladimir Ribnika. went to the Ministry of Science and Culture. The Federal Government now controls only the Central Film Laboratory, a Film Library, and the Central Studio in Belgrade. The general policy, up to now, has been to produce films solely for the home market, and early films should be judged with this factor in mind. The higher standard and wider appeal of the films now in production makes it possible for them to take their place as a valuable contribution to the world's culture. ONE of the leading figures of film journalism immediately after the first world war was Bosko Tokine. Although few people can remember him here today, he achieved an international reputation as the first Balkan journalist to write seriously about films. At present he works in the Film Library in Belgrade, where I met him recently. He is now writing a book on the history of films in the Balkans. It surprised me when he told me that the first film to be made in Serbia was made the same year as the founding of Hollywood, in 1910. Between then and 1932 fifteen feature films were made in Yugoslavia. most of them by foreign companies. The first film was made by contract with Pathe. who sent their cameraman. Berri, to Belgrade. Film journalism developed more quickly than film production, and it was the writers who first thought of producing films. It wasn't very easy as there was considerable opposition to films at the time. Tokine told me that he was publicly denounced as a demoraliser of the youth of the country, for describing Charlie Chaplin as a modern Aristophanes. The stories Tokine tells of his own film production ventures are very entertaining. He was the chairman of a club of film fans, many of whose members are famous actors today. This club decided to make a film for themselves in 1924. It was to be a comedy about an attack by bandits on a tramcar near Belgrade, but the police intervened before the film was completed. A local newspaper had carried the story of the bandit attack in large headlines, and had only added in a footnote that it was a film. Bandits were a very real thing in the Balkans in those days, and as many people had not read the footnote, there was a small panic in Belgrade. In any case the police felt that they had enough trouble with real bandits without having to deal with film ones. The film was destined never to be seen by the public. As the result of an unhappy love affair with a girl member of the club, one of the actors committed suicide, but he waited long enough to burn the film negative. Several more films were made later, and although the last one in 1932 showed a considerable advance, technically and artistically, sound had come to the cinemas, and these silent films, made by talented amateurs, could not compete with the new films arriving from the west. The increasing interest in the history of films generally in Yugoslavia today has increased the reputation that Tokine has. The Film Library, which was founded three years ago, now contains over 3.500 films. Although many of them are world classics, there are also many interesting and historical relics of the early days that Tokine knows so well. They tell the story of those adventurous film exhibitors who found their way into some of the remotest parts of Europe. Some of these old films were found in strange places, in the rafters of village schools or hidden in peasant cottages, and are believed to be of considerable value. It is out of this research and his own memories that Tokine is making his book. 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