Diretores / 49ª mostra

Želimir Žilnik is one of Serbia’s most subversive and historically relevant filmmakers, with a filmography of over 50 titles spanning seven decades. Born in a Nazi concentration camp in 1942 and raised in Tito’s Yugoslavia, his work acts as a seismograph for the history and social tensions of Eastern Europe. Since the beginning of his career in the 1960s, Žilnik established an anarchic and disruptive style that blurs the lines between documentary and fiction. His debut feature, “Early Works” (1969), which satirized socialist ideals and the Yugoslav political map, was immediately recognized with the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Over the decades, the director has continued to confront urgent issues. Amidst the Bosnian War, he made the "punk" and unclassifiable “Marble Ass” (1995), a clandestine portrait of two queer characters in Belgrade who promote pacifist resistance. This work earned him the Teddy Bear at the Berlinale. Žilnik remains tireless and modern, as demonstrated by his most recent work, “Eighty Plus” (2025), also screened in Berlin, which addresses the experiences of exclusion and the memories of old age. The 49th São Paulo International Film Festival honors this trajectory by presenting these three crucial titles from his body of work.