Archive Cinema City 2013.

The Illness and Recovery of Buda Brakus

Bolest i ozdravljenje Bude Brakusa

Genre: Docu-drama
Country: Yugoslavia
Year: 1980
Duration: 98 min

Director: Zelimir Zilnik
Scenario: Zelimir Zilnik



Programme selection: Respect to Zelimir Zilnik

Synopsis:

The protagonists of this docu-drama are old farmers who migrated to Banat after the First World War, in 1922. The drama is focused on a couple of important events in their lives. While he was feeding his bull Buda Brakus is seriously injured and taken to hospital for surgery. During his recuperation his old friends visit him and he evokes his memories from the First World War. He remembers being wounded, lying in bed in hospital in Bizerta, crossing Albania, time spent in America in 1910. Archive material has been used for these segments.

Brakus goes to a spa where he meets Hungarian people of his age. At the time when Brakus first settled in Vojvodina, they were mainly working in mills or helped the newcomers as bricklayers when they were building their houses. The impressive lives of all the protagonists are woven into the lively scenes and stories full of wise instances, and their statements become spontaneous recounts of the lives of people in this region.

Zelimir Zilnik (born 1942, based in Novi Sad, Serbia)

From the late 60s, his socially engaged films and documentaries in former Yugoslavia earned him critical accolades but also censorship in the 70s for his unflinching criticism of the government apparatus.

Low budget filmmaking and challenging political themes mark Zilnik’s prolific career that includes over 50 feature and documentary films and shorts.

www.zilnikzelimir.net