Nationale Fragen und Kriegsverbrechen im post-jugoslawischen Dokumentarfilm
National Questions and War Crimes in ex-Yugoslav Documentary Films

Summary/Abstract: Abstract. Cooperation among documentary filmmakers in the various post-Yugoslav countries has scarcely developed, in contrast to the collaboration found among fiction filmmakers. Though documentary filmmaking had developed a highly critical tradition since the late 1960s, after the break-up of Yugoslavia filmmaking in general became polarized between aesthetics and political interests. Dealing with the trauma of the war, filmmaking became not only a means of reflecting recent political, historical, individual and social processes, but also a tool for nation-(re-)building. In the 1990s, analysis was largely limited to national aspects, indulging in an iconography embedded in specific national cultures of remembrance, and clearly distinguishing between victims and perpetrators. Only few – although influential – films followed an inter-ethnical approach. They initiated discussions on hitherto taboo topics, particularly on the subject of war crimes. Recently, a growing interest in multi-national themes as well as a greater stylistic diversity can be noticed.

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