Politics, ideology, and programming practices: how the Yugoslav Documentary and Short Film Festival abandoned the idea of Yugoslavia

This article charts the history of the Yugoslav Documentary and Short Film Festival since its creation in 1954, comparing its development in two periods: firstly, the socialist Yugoslavia (1954-late 1980s/early 1990s), marked by the rule of Josip Broz Tito, and, secondly, the initial post-socialist period, marked by the nationalist politics of Slobodan Milosevic and the disintegration of the country and wars (the 1990s). The article shows the festival's transition from one which screened films from six Yugoslav republics and championed the Yugoslav revolutionary heritage and the concepts of workers' self-management and 'brotherhood and unity' into one which became a local Serbian-Montenegrin event, marked by Serbian nationalist discourse and a highly critical view of Yugoslavian socialism. Analyzing the changes in the festival's programming policies at the times of the country's political and ideological shifts, this article illustrates how political conditions influenced creative processes and exhibition patterns in the field of documentary film.