Irena Škorić’s documentary on Yugoslavian antifascist monuments is to be screened at the European Parliament
‘Unwanted Heritage’, a feature film written and directed by Croatian filmmaker Irena Škorić, will soon be screened at the European Parliament in Brussels, reports Novi list on November 27, 2017.
Irena Škorić reported the screening will take place on December 5. Her announcement also stated the film was selected by MEP Josep-Maria Terricabras, the vice-chair of the European Free Alliance/Group of the Greens. Škorić will personally present the film to the audience, and the screening will be followed by a debate on the uprise of nationalism in the Balkans in recent years.
‘Unwanted Heritage’ (Neželjena baština in Croatian) focuses on thousands of monuments to the anti-fascist struggle, widely known as ‘spomeniks’ and erected in all parts of the ex-Yugoslavian territory between 1945 and 1990. During the 90s, half of the entire monument fund was either intentionally damaged or entirely destroyed – around 3000 works, some of them having been known for their high artistic value.
The film presents the story of the demolished monuments in the context of social changes in these parts, along with new political circumstances that in time branded the internationally acclaimed artworks as socially, politically and culturally undesirable, turning them into targets for destructive acts of vandalism.
‘Unwanted Heritage’ had its international premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2016, while the Croatian premiere took place at ZagrebDox earlier this year.
So far, the film has won the award for the best documentary at the 6th Balkan New Film Festival BaNeFF in Stockholm and at the Ischia Film Festival in Italy, a special recognition prize at the Accolade Global Film Festival in San Diego, the Best Photography Award at San Gio’ Verona Video Festival in Italy, the Audience Award at the Forteca International Film Festival in Perast and the Golden Award for the best movie in the category of history and archaeology at WorldFest in Houston.
