Archivism and Appropriation in Post-Yugoslav Cinema

Archivism and Appropriation in Post-Yugoslav Cinema examines post-Yugoslav cinema through the lens of archivism and appropriation, revealing how filmmakers reclaim found footage to confront history, memory, and post-truth politics in Southeastern Europe.

Chapters in this book treat archives as contested institutions rather than neutral databases, drawing on Film Studies, Comparative Literature, Architecture, and professional filmmaking and archiving. Readers will gain a multidisciplinary framework for understanding why post-Yugoslav filmmakers, such as Marko Grba Singh, Srđan Keča, and Kumjana Novakova, have embraced archival excavation since 1991. Additionally, the book equips readers to connect aesthetic choices to historical revisionism and ideological struggle. It also argues that post-Yugoslav image-making is key to understanding the archive in the 21st century more broadly.

This book will be of interest to scholars and advanced students of Film Studies, Media Studies, and Southeastern European or postsocialist cultural studies, especially those researching archival theory, appropriation, or documentary practice. It will also appeal to filmmakers, archivists, and curators working with found footage, as well as instructors building courses on postsocialist cinema or Balkan studies, and libraries supporting film and area studies programs.