Negative Aesthetics and Political Collapse in Eastern European and Balkan Cinema

This book examines the theme of political collapse in select contemporary Eastern European and Balkan art cinema and documentaries from the late eighties to the present. It will interest scholars of film theory, global art cinema aesthetics, regional studies of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and political science.

Zoran Samardzija is a Professor in the School of Film and Television at Columbia College Chicago, USA. He primarily teaches courses in cinema and television studies. He has published several articles on European and American cinemas. His first book, Post-Communist Malaise: Cinematic Responses to European Integration, was published in 2020.

1. Introduction 2. Catastrophe and Utopia: Miklós Jancsó at the End of Communism 3. Absent Totality in the Films of László Nemes 4. The Contested Past and Interminable Present in Romanian Cinema 5. Conclusion: The Future Form of Working through the Past Index