Obsession with the Past and Disappointment with the Present in the Cinema of the Ex-Communist Countries

Abstract

The notion that the ex-communist countries could emerge as one of the most vibrant and exciting
filmmaking centers in Europe, if not the world, would have seemed far-fetched a decade ago. And yet, since
the beginning of the third millenium a generation of remarkably talented young directors have produced an
impressive body of films that have consistently landed at the top of international critics’ polls and in the
coveted top tier of film festivals. Their films have become increasingly self-referential, using specific
structures to draw attention to the means whereby their fiction is created and to make the spectator aware of
the process of filmic narrative. Part of this is a recognition and an exploration of the specificities of the
medium, not least its ability to deal with historical time. Essentially, these films acknowledge European
memory, while also showing the centrality of film itself within this memory.