We have been grossly privatized, and at the same time, primitivized.

We have grossly privatized ourselves, and at the same time, we have become primitivized.

Thus, in an interview for "Vijesti", he summarizes the culture, society, and overall life in Montenegro over the past decade. Zoran Bojović - a recognizable face of Titograd, Zabjelo Republike, Podgorica, film and video...

Recognized on the alternative cultural, artistic, and activist scene, Bojović has been persevering for two decades in organizing the only Montenegrin short, alternative film festival, the Short Video Form Festival, which has been taking place in Podgorica since 2006, and of which he is the founder and editor.

"Finding the right video form with as little production as possible, while avoiding stereotypes, trends, dictates - that's where I see the creative challenge," he says, adding:

"In an environment of the absence of amateur cinema and modest alternative platforms, I believe that we have managed to keep the space free for the affirmation of new authors who operate or will operate in the zone of alternative and amateur cinema," says Bojović.

Although in December, after the 19th edition of the Short Video Festival, it was announced that the jubilee, 20th edition of the Festival would be held in the spring of this year, Bojović told Vijesti that the date remains the same: December, and he also revealed what the plans are for marking the anniversary.

Speaking about films, he pointed out that the creative process is unnecessarily mystified and bureaucratized.

"To 'regularly' shoot a feature film in Montenegro today, you need at least a few long and difficult years of wrestling with various funds and institutions. All of this painfully slows down the process of filmmaking, and so we slow down and passivize even the few creative authors with a vision, clipping their wings. On the other hand, we live in times of multimedia expansion, it has never been easier to express ourselves in the language of film," he says, and believes that "creative people today have no excuse for not creating."

In addition to the Festival, film, amateur cinema, and alternative forms, Bojović recalls for Vijesti his involvement during the 1990s, the concept and mission of Zabjelo Republike, summarizing trends in culture and society from then to the present day...

Zoran Bojović was born in 1973 in Titograd. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšić, Department of History and Geography. As a founder and editor, member of the editorial team, producer, and author of programs, he worked in numerous Montenegrin media. He is a screenwriter and director of documentary films, the titles of which include: “The Phenomenon of Corruption in Montenegro” (2008), “One Day - Every Day” (2009), “Choose Yourself!” (2014). He is the author of numerous short films, campaigns, and commercials, and as a screenwriter and director, he also signed the feature film “Golden Hooks”, which in 2007 won the award for best film at the Varaždin Film Festival (Croatia) and in 2008 the special award of Cinema City in Novi Sad. With the “Association of Gorica and Nature Lovers”, he won the awards: “Green Star” (2014), for public engagement, and ISKRA (2023) for Special Contribution to Civic Activism.

You are one of the most prominent people on the Montenegrin alternative, social, and cultural-artistic scene. You were a member of the editorial boards of independent media in the 90s, an initiator of the urban movements of the time, and remained involved in film, art, activism... What circumstances inspired you and what still inspires you to persevere in all of this?

First of all, thank you for introducing me like this. I haven't spoken publicly in a long time, so I'm not sure how many of your readers even recognize me through your question. And I don't speak out often, because our society has been caught between two frustrated, hysterical, electrified narratives for the past few decades. They feed off each other and nothing can be heard from their deafening noise. Both narratives are outside the historical logic of this space. Shallow and banal narratives bear precisely such fruits. Primitivism, chauvinism, violence dominate the public space. We have suppressed most of our progressive heritage. We used the twentieth century to crush and shred ourselves in a quality way. The fact that since 1880, when we liberated ourselves after five centuries, we have changed as many as nine states speaks volumes about stability, progress, and the future. If we don't calm down, establish some order and a just order - we will thin out, literally disappear. We have fallen into a project stereotype, we are wallowing in the mud and not moving.

Fortunately, it's enough to keep your head out of both concepts and the social dynamics become much clearer to you. Of course, provided you're elementary.

You originally started Zabjelo Republika, and after your own films came the festival, the Short Video Festival, which has been around for two decades. What are the goals of your engagement and how do you summarize the period from your own beginnings to the present day, whether it concerns the socio-political or alternative and artistic spheres of Montenegro?

Yes, in the early 90s, Zabjelo Republika was my generation's response to the horror of great national abominations, to the depths of petty-bourgeois passions. It was one of the last generations of the SFRY raised on the principles of brotherhood, unity, enthusiasm, some elementary values... We graduated in '92 when the civil war in the surrounding area began. At that time, we understood the alternative space as a space of freedom, free thought and expression. That's how we created radio, TV or film content, a good part of which has long been in the zone of local cult works. We recorded serious video works with a single VHS or mini DV camera, guerrilla printed a magazine catwalk i homeless, we literally screamed against the disturbed value system on a few free radio stations at the time. Radio Free Montenegro was the best radio in the wider region from 1999 to 2002. Another thing is that then, and I'm afraid even now, we don't have mechanisms that would realistically assess this and adequately select it.

Now, 35 years later, we can witness established primitivism at almost all levels. Nothing has changed for the better since the disappearance of the Yugoslav community. The concept of the “Tuški put” (I mean the former truck market - the primordial nebula from which our current social and economic reality was born) is still relevant. The dominance of the gray economy has given rise to and cemented gray social relations. We are recycling the nineties. Children do not like to go to school and learn, the elderly are mostly lost in political and identity labyrinths. The centers of power are in monopolies, not in academies.

In such a situation, talking about culture is illusory. It's like looking for clean, white sneakers in a mega-dump.

Culture is suppressed and marginalized in such a society. However, some micro-movements are happening, enough to at least satisfy your internal cultural needs. There are quite enough people, authors in Montenegro, not everything is đapopiopi, Rather, the entertainment industry has eaten up culture, and there is no corrective or defense against this insatiable trans-Balkan primitivism.

It's clear. Let's turn to the Festival, what are your impressions of last year's, 19th edition?

Short Video Format Review - Alternative Film/Video Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The fact that we have so far screened 291 short alternative films by our authors speaks volumes. In an environment of the absence of amateur cinema and modest alternative platforms, I believe that we have managed to keep the space free for the affirmation of new authors who work or will work in the zone of alternative and amateur cinema.

Last year's 19th edition of the Festival continued that continuity. In addition to the experimental documentary, the masterpiece "Soul of Nature", by Slavka Klikovec and the deceased Boris Đurović, which is one of the best ever made films about the nature of Montenegro, the performance “Peace, peace, peace, no one is to blame” was a refreshing form. Young people came to grips with the collective traumas of the recent past. Also, the emergence of a new generation of young authors of short video forms is pleasing.

What are the plans for the 20th Short Video Festival, which will be held in December instead of spring, as we are used to? Have you already started organizing it and what will be the focus?

The 20th anniversary edition of the festival, in addition to the traditional programs, will bring a retrospective of the past two decades. We will continue to present cinema clubs from the region, and we are planning a larger short film workshop. We also expect several important film names from Yugoslav countries. It is possible that during the year we will show our best short films in Canada and Belarus. We will also open a space for authors of performances and installations.

As there are many cultural events in December and the whirlwind of the end of the year is felt, we planned to hold the 20th Festival during the spring, but due to the time needed to prepare the program, we still decided to hold the anniversary edition in December.

To what extent do you see amateur filming as a segment of alternative, but also a reflection of authentic stories, and whether and how can it be compared to the mainstream film industry? What are the differences in these spheres, apart from the budget?

The process of filmmaking is unnecessarily mystified and bureaucratized. In order to 'regularly' shoot a feature film in Montenegro today, you need at least a few long and difficult years of wrestling with various funds and institutions. All of this painfully slows down the process of filmmaking, and so we slow down and passivize even the few creative authors with a vision, clipping their wings. On the other hand, we live in times of multimedia expansion, it has never been easier to express ourselves in the language of film. Creative people today have no excuse for not creating.

When you are in the amateur zone, you are not burdened by commercial or formal norms, which is enough for sincerity to flow from you to the audience. I think that is very important in this age of boring film templates. The eye of a modern person is oversaturated with clichéd video content. I see a creative challenge here. To find the right video form with as little production as possible, while avoiding stereotypes, trends, and dictates.

To what extent do cultural, economic, political and overall circumstances in society influence the development or stagnation of amateur cinema in certain regions or countries? What is the situation in Montenegro?

The socialist model of our society, from 1945 to 1991, favored amateurism in almost all branches of art and life. A developed sense of community, enthusiasm and enthusiasm is a huge force, which is why the SFRY, among other things, rose from the ruins. Podgorica is one of the rare major republican cities where the enthusiasm that underlies amateur filmmaking has not continued. We have silenced iconic cinema halls: Bioskop Kultura, Dom omladine, Dom JNA, Bioskop 25. maj in Konik…

We have been grossly privatized, and at the same time, primitivized, unfortunately, at almost all levels. In parallel with the dehumanization of culture, the dehumanization of the cities in which we live has also been carried out. The former, this and that Titograd now seems like a Renaissance town compared to the current overcrowded and stuffy Podgorica. All this affects people who think creatively, the quality and potential of their creativity. We do not leave much clean space for young people. Each generation is drawn anew, bleeding through the thorns of this karst.

How do you see the future of amateur cinema and alternative film in relation to numerous online platforms, social networks, but also technological progress, and then artificial intelligence?

"We all started as amateurs, only the best among us stayed that way," he said. Boris BudenI would not add anything to this statement.

Good films and thousands of people in the streets are useless if there is no political articulation of that energy.

If we are talking about amateur cinema, does amateur film have value in contemporary society, whether in Montenegro or the world? Is there a hidden potential for social change?

There is, of course. People will always be interested in watching authentic, honest and free film/video forms. Whether it's a short, experimental documentary or some animation, there will always be something new and different.

The fact that we in Montenegro, with our modest film quality, have delegitimized this entire mechanism does not mean that it does not work. It does work, of course, it just needs to be used correctly.

A single film can set off a social dynamic, but whether that will be enough to bring about social change is a matter of political articulation. Good films and thousands of people on the streets are useless if there is no political articulation of that energy.

Instead of educating, the media today mostly dumbs down and manipulates.

The Film Center of Montenegro and the Institute for Education have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, which aims to develop a film literacy program and introduce it into the preschool and primary education system in Montenegro. What do you think about this and how to encourage critical thinking, film education, but also alternative education for the sake of improving the knowledge of young people, but also the position of film art?

The development of critical thinking, media literacy and a culture of dialogue are some of the mechanisms that can lead to more responsible citizens. I would not focus narrowly on young people, they are certainly the most important. The aforementioned mechanisms should also be offered to older people. It is obvious that we have skipped some levels of civilized behavior. In addition to institutions, the media are also very weak. Unfortunately, instead of enlightening and educating, the media today mainly dumbs down and manipulates. Regulatory institutions should clean up the media scene, and educational institutions should create interesting programs. All in all, it takes a lot of time for such initiatives to be implemented and to produce the desired results.