Tracing the legacy of Yugoslav cinema’s trailblazing women directors
Original text was published here.
“I was interested in human destiny rather than politics”, said Gordana Boškov, a Yugoslavian and Serbian director and screenwriter, about her films in an interview we had in May this year.
When asked what it had been like as a woman in the Yugoslav film industry, Boškov answered: “there’s film, and then there’s female film”, implying that “female film wasn’t seen as film, and that men were the default when it came to filmmaking”.
Even though the Yugoslav film industry gave birth to numerous directors, only a handful of female directors actually got the chance to make feature-length films.
Let us remember Vesna Ljubić, Marija Marić, Suada Kapić, Sofija ‘Soja’ Jovanović, Ljiljana Jojić, as well as Gordana Boškov, to whom this article is dedicated.
Boškov passed away on August 16th of this year, in the same manner that she lived – quietly and with dignity. We were supposed to meet this summer, and I was confused as to why she wasn’t answering my messages, calls, and emails. I was waiting for her response. I found out about her passing when UFUS AFA Zaštita – the Organization of film authors of Serbia – published a post dedicated to her, and it seemed to me that, apart from them and her family, no one else remembered. I had the privilege of conducting a phone interview with her in May of this year, and I will pass on its content to you so we can remember her together. Boškov was born in 1936 in Melenci (today’s Serbia). She attended the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. “I studied English and world literature. Afterwards, I was drawn to the theater. I gained my first experiences as an actress in the Yugoslav drama theater. Then, I became a member and active actress of the amateur theater AKUD Branko Krsmanović, which became a base for me. AKUD Branko Krsmanović had been founded by [the first Yugosloavian female director Sofija] ‘Soja’ Jovanović, and its manager [at the time of Boškov’s membership] was the renowned theater director Miroslav Belović”, said Boškov.
“I made the move from theater to Radio Belgrade, where I went through all the ropes and gained a variety of experiences,” remembered Boškov.
She continued to manifest her affinity for media and the arts by attending Film studies. “The Dunav film studio had a two-year directing and screenwriting school, which I attended and successfully completed”, added Boškov. She further honed her craft by working as assistant director on the 1966 film “The Boy Cried Murder”, directed by American director George P. Breakston. “I had proven myself as a diligent assistant director, which led to the same director inviting me to work on another project of his”, said Boškov. However, she declined the offer as she wanted to dedicate herself to film on her own. “I made my debut with a short children’s film “Well, I’m gonna find those stars” (1968), produced by Dunav film. Nikola Majdak was the videographer, Bora Šejtinac the animator, and Mirjana Stefanović the screenwriter for this film. “ Boškov’s debut achieved significant results by participating in the famous 29. Venice film festival (29. Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica di Venezia), which was held in 1968.
Afterward, Boškov dedicated herself to directing short TV films, such as “Between me and my silence“ (1981). “The lyrics, written by Tanja Kragujević, were recorded for this TV film. It was made for the Pesničke Vedrine show, which aired on the live program of radio-television Belgrade”.
Apart from radio-television Belgrade, Boškov frequently made TV films for TV Novi Sad, such as “Records of black Vladimir”.
“It was based on Stevan Raičković’s poems, and the scenario was written by Maja Dimitrijević”, stated Boškov. “I made the most films with videographer Nevenka Redžić-Toth, a scholarship holder of TV Novi Sad who had studied in Prague” [at the renowned FAMU]. “When TV Novi Sad began operations, we started making TV films together, such as “It’s easy for the sea to be a sea” about poet Jura Kaštelan, as well as a portrait of Jelka Asić, an actress from the city of Subotica”.
The good working relationship between Bošvok and Redžić-Toth on TV films translated well to feature films too. The first feature-length film that Boškov directed, and Redžić-Toth enriched with her cinematography, was “What’s With You, Nina” (1984). “The film was produced by Union film production house, which doesn’t exist anymore. This film took part in numerous film festivals, both foreign, such as a film festival in Italy, and domestic, such as the 31. Yugoslav feature film festival in Pula, held in 1984.“
The second feature-length film that Boškov directed was “In Prison“ (1985). As with the previous film “What’s with you, Nina”, Redžić-Toth was the cinematographer for “In Prison“. Boškov entrusted the roles in this film to actors who participated in her previous work, such as Snežana Savić, Ljiljana Janković, Velimir ’Bata’ Živojinović, and Dragomir Bojanić-Gidra. It should be emphasized that this is one of the rare Yugoslav films with women in both the leading and creative roles – besides director and co writer Boškov and cinematographer Redžić-Toth, the editor was Jelena Đokić. “The producer of the feature film was studio [TRUZD] Gama from Belgrade [SR Serbia], and Vesna [from Slovenia] was the distributor. The film tackles the challenging topic of delinquency. I read in Večernje Novosti (The Evening News)”, Boškov remembers, “a story about an incident at the women’s wing in prison, which inspired me to make a documentary on that topic. Considering that I’d been successfully collaborating with TV Novi Sad for 10 years at that point, I suggested doing a documentary on the topic of women’s prison to the TV editor, which he accepted. In order to get permission to shoot the film, the editor and I had two rounds of negotiations with the [female] prison warden of the women’s prison in Sremska Mitrovica. I was nervous during one of our conversations, so I got up and started circling her office; I walked behind the warden’s back, to which she jumped and gave me a sharp look. I froze in place because I realized you can’t walk behind anyone’s back in prison. The women’s prison documentary was done either in 1982 or 1983, produced by TV Novi Sad.”
Following the documentary, Boškov had the idea to make the feature film “In Prison“.
“The backbone and inspiration for the film came from the warden of the women’s prison that I had met in real life. She had very forward-thinking and brave ideas. She wanted to bring change. She actually removed the bars from the windows of the women’s wing, which inspired me to include that progressive act in the film. Also, the warden had an interesting and modern fashion sense. For example, she wore leather mini-skirts. The actress playing her part was Dara Džokić, who wasn’t the mini-skirt type. My first choice was actress Tanja Bošković, but she didn’t end up taking part in the film. Milan Štrljić, the actor who played Peđa Đukić, a character who starts a relationship (on the big screen) with the fictionalized warden, was actually interested in the real life warden, but nothing came of it”, Boškov remarks.
“After the first draft for “In Prison“ was completed, the prison administration held a council meeting to discuss the script. The draft – which is kept in the Yugoslav Film Archive – was called “The Closening“, a title that was chosen due to how the characters grew close in the script. The warden’s name was Mirka in the draft, but the prison warden (in real life), for some reason, didn’t approve of it (be it due to its association with the word mir (peace) or something else), and proceeded to change it to Vida. After the prison administration had finished reading the first draft, Boškov was told that the script was anti-government and to mellow it out. Upon hearing this, Irena Prošen, a [Yugoslav SR] Slovenian actress set to portray the character of Ljubica, asked Stane Dolanc, the then Minister of Police, for help. Dolnac got in contact with the prison warden and told him that the script was fine, a move that, due to his high rank, had a large impact on the destiny of the script“, said Boškov.
“The film was shot in Sremska Mitrovica, in the authentic ambiance of a prison. One interesting anecdote is that”, remembers Boškov, “real life male and female prisoners were brought to the shooting of the concert scene and be together, in the same room, alongside the professional actors. We set a precedent then – because the prison in Sremska Mitrovica consisted of two separate wings, the male and female one, this was the first time that male and female prisoners were allowed to be in the same room at the same time. From a safety point of view, the situation was tense because convicted felons (both male and female) were mingling with professional actors during the scene. But everything went without a hitch.“
Boškov remembered another anecdote: “During actress Tomanija Đuričkoć’s (her grandson is actor Nikola Đuričko) two hour break – which was very short considering that production took place from dusk ‘till dawn – she, in her prisoner costume, went out to see the city of Sremska Mitrovica. However, Đuričko was arrested by local law enforcement as they believed that she was a real prisoner who had escaped. At the time, Đuričko was a retired woman, around 60-70 years old. When the police superintendent realized that she was actually an actress, Đuričko was let go. It’s a funny anecdote that’s been told countless times.”
Boškov went on to explain the issue that arose regarding the film’s title. “The real name of this feature film is “In Prison“. It’s the name shown in the opening credits, and the one used during its screening in cinemas. For example, the film was screened in the Jadran cinema in Belgrade”. The film took part in the domestic 36. Festival of Yugoslav Film in Pula, held in 1986, under its real name. ”Afterwards, the film’s poster had the title “In Prison“. However, during the distribution stage, the producer [TRZUD] Gama changed the name of the film of their own accord to ”Women in Prison” in order to increase its commercial appeal, without asking for my permission beforehand”, spoke Boškov of this negative experience.
Of all the films that Boškov directed, it’s important to highlight the documentary “The Karađorđević Dinasty” (1990). Then, after the collapse of SFRY, she was able to make her third feature film “Coming Back”, a.k.a. “Flashback”. “I made it despite not receiving funds from the film fund”, says Boškov. Apart from being the director and co writer with Veroslav Rančić, she was also its co-producer via Impuls film production house, which she had founded. The film took part in the Cinema Delle Donne International Film Festival in Turin, dedicated to female directors. “As I was taking the cassettes for the festival to Italy, the Italian customs officials let their dogs loose on me at the Italian border, and I experienced an unpleasant inconvenience”, Boškov recalled. But that didn’t deter her from participating.
Boškov didn’t consider herself a feminist director, but she reckoned that female directors had a unique audio-visual sensibility. Of the handful of female colleagues – female directors in the Yugoslav film industry – she held (the late) Vesna Ljubić and her films in high regard. ”We got in touch over the phone [Belgrade-Sarajevo], but, unfortunately, we never got the chance to meet in person”, Boškov mournfully says. Regarding male-female relationships in the Yugoslav film industry, Boškov says: “Sexism was present on the artistic front. Moreover, I frequently asked myself how I had even been able to make feature films in the first place. But, if I were to be put in a situation where someone treated me differently in a professional environment because I was a woman, or told me that I couldn’t do something, I’d demand that man to explain why he thought I couldn’t”. Boškov said: “Feature film is unforgivable”, in the sense that, while she was working in theater, at Radio-Belgrade, and on documentaries, she didn’t notice any envy from her (male) colleagues. However, when she got the chance to make her first feature film, that all changed. For example, a male colleague once told her: “You’re doing feature films? Do you know how difficult it is to get that opportunity?” indicating envy and non-collegiality.
Despite that, director Boškov was able to make feature films on the topic of women with strong female characters, which was a rarity in Yugoslav cinema. Thus, let us remember her and her films, which, I hope and ask, will get the chance to be restored, or at least digitalised, so as not to be lost forever.
Author: Vesi Vuković (Doctor of Film Studies and Visual Culture)
