Newsreel 242 – Sunny Railways
A tribute to thousands of young political idealists who helped build the railway between Sarajevo and Šamac in 1947. Their hope for a better world has faded, but their idealism remains a source of inspiration.
Youth work actions were an integral part of socialist Yugoslavia. Through voluntary work, thousands of young brigadiers contributed to the development of the country and actively helped realise key infrastructure projects. One of such was the Šamac-Sarajevo railway, built in 1947 with the support of thousands of young leftists from Italy, Britain, Greece, France, Denmark, Sweden, Palestine, etc. During the war in the 1990s, the railway was damaged, and the last train from Šamac to Sarajevo rode in 2011. Today it is often used as a path to the promised future for the people on the move.
SCREENINGS
Friday 6 November 18:30 (Between Film and Art 1)
Programme section(s): Between Film and Art
Original title: Obzornik 242 – Sunčane pruge | Year: 2023 | Runtime: 30′
Country: Slovenia | Language: Serbo-Croatian | Subtitles: English
Director: Nika Autor | Production: Newsreel Front; Temporama | Cinematography: Jošt Franko | Editing: Nika Autor | Music: Matevž Kolenc | Text: Olga Dimitirjević
FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION)
The Mosaic Rooms, London, 2023 – World Premiere | International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, 2023 | Slovenska Kinoteka, Ljubljana, 2024 | Festival dei Popoli, 2024 | Anthology Film Archives, New York, 2024 | Cukrarna Gallery, Ljubljana, 2024 | ZagrebDox, 2024 | Montenegro Film Festival, 2024
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Nika Autor is part of the collective Newsreel Front (Obzorniška Fronta). Her artistic practice is primarily based on experimental video and documentary film, film essays, and spatial video installations. Her work deals with migration policies, workers’ rights, and the politics of memory.
She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana and finished her practice-based PhD at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Her work has been exhibited in various international museums, galleries and festivals such as Jeu de Paume Paris, MAXXI Rome, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, ARS Electronica, TIFF, JEUNJ Korea, Viennale and others. Nika represented Slovenia at the Venice Biennale in 2017 and was the winner of the Found Footage Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2018.
