The Old School of Capitalism
Želimir Žilnik, 2009, 122 min

"In a playful, often hilarious mixture of documentary and fiction, the film maker Želimir Žilnik traces sanctifying capitalism, sold to the Serbians after the disappearance of state socialism as the great new god. As a background for his story, Žilnik uses a number of strikes that took place in Belgrade in recent years and introduces us to several people involved who are allowed to 'play' themselves. That leads to explosive situations. Employees dressed in American football kits come to settle up with their employers with gangs of heavies in bullet-proof vests. But the factories have already been emptied. The arrival of a Russian tycoon and the American vice president Joe Biden light the fuse. Žilnik's intriguing docudrama observes with x-ray eyes and in a sharp tone what's going on in the new Serbia. No lazy ideological analysis, but a complex and yet lighthearted portrait of the consequences of globalised capitalism for a country that has only just joined in the game." – IFFR

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Part of the 21st Century Žilnik survey