Jovan Jovanović | WatchedThis
Jovan Jovanović
Directing
Biography
Jovan Jovanović was born in Belgrade on May 31, 1940. He graduated directing from the Academy for Theater, Film, Radio and Television with the medium-length feature film Distinctly Me (1967), which was declared the best film in all categories at the Young Authors Festival in New York (the jury included, among others, Steven Spielberg, Andy Warhol, Mike Nichols, Peter Bogdanovich). His documentary feature film Kolt 15 GAP (1971) was awarded at the festivals in Oberhausen, Utrecht, Belgrade, was included in the Anthology of Films of the Oberhausen Festival, and the American film historian Barnau included it in his book "History of the World documentary".
Filmography Movies
Acting
The Decameron
A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.
Self-Portrait
The film uses an alternative shooting method, the so-called staring camera, two years before the same method used by Andy Warhol and two years before the use of similar methods at the GEFF in Zagreb. The tape is connected in a circle, like an endless tape.
The Hidden Face of Yugoslav Cinema
Documentary film about maverick movie director Jovan Jovanović and his views on cinema, before, during and after the "second" premiere of his movie "Young and healthy as a rose", on FEST 2006, after decades of being banned.
Sonja
This documentary was inspired by the artistic life of Serbian actress Sonja Savić. Being a wonder child, a star of Yugoslavian cinematography, a sex symbol, and urban legend of the eighties generation, a fighter against establishment, Sonja Savić had always attracted attention. Simply put, she always looked, spoke and thought differently from others, she was entirely autonomous, an authentic phenomenon of Serbian culture. In the documentary SONJA, friends and colleagues of Sonja Savić testify on many aspects of her life and work, and a special emphasis is put on Sonja’s libertarian, rebellious, Don Quixote type of nature.
Martinac
Documentary about the life and work of Ivan Martinac (1938-2005), avant-garde & experimentalist filmmaker from Split, Croatia.
Production
Diary of a Generation
Titoism abused the school system, as well as all institutions of culture and media in order to create obedient subjects who do not have their own opinion about reality and who live in a fictitious world of ideological constructions. Children from eight-year schools are forced to quote by heart the values of the so-called self-governing socialism as their own. This is the best way to create generations of conformists who the so-called elites can rule.
Landscapes in the Mist
Naturalistic and almost documentary account of the heroin addicts in Belgrade, in the form of a sad life story of young girl and her wasted life.
Landscapes in the Mist
Naturalistic and almost documentary account of the heroin addicts in Belgrade, in the form of a sad life story of young girl and her wasted life.
Young and Healthy as a Rose
Young and Healthy as a Rose follows Stevan Nikolić, "Stiv", a petty criminal born in Belgrade, and his rise to power along with drugs, sex and with the help of the local police.
Young and Healthy as a Rose
Young and Healthy as a Rose follows Stevan Nikolić, "Stiv", a petty criminal born in Belgrade, and his rise to power along with drugs, sex and with the help of the local police.
Distinctly Me
A portrait of a restless young man in late-1960s Belgrade whose cool exterior masks deep dissatisfaction, violent imaginings, and a search for identity amid urban life.
Distinctly Me
A portrait of a restless young man in late-1960s Belgrade whose cool exterior masks deep dissatisfaction, violent imaginings, and a search for identity amid urban life.
Man from Vukovar
This documentary film is the first and only Serbian film that provides a true picture of the drama of the Serbs in Vukovar and the status of the Serbs in Croatia. Having lost their status as a constituent nation in Croatia by overvoting in the assembly, the Serbs became prey to vampirized Croatian nationalism. During several months of filming in Vukovar, Jovanović documented all aspects of the tragedy of the Serbs in Vukovar with extensive (many hours) of material.
Man from Vukovar
This documentary film is the first and only Serbian film that provides a true picture of the drama of the Serbs in Vukovar and the status of the Serbs in Croatia. Having lost their status as a constituent nation in Croatia by overvoting in the assembly, the Serbs became prey to vampirized Croatian nationalism. During several months of filming in Vukovar, Jovanović documented all aspects of the tragedy of the Serbs in Vukovar with extensive (many hours) of material.
Kolt 15 GAP
A short documentary following Stanoje Ćebić, an unemployed Yugoslav metalworker and self-proclaimed Marxist, as he moves through Belgrade and its outskirts articulating his views on labor, socialism, and everyday survival. Directed by Jovan Jovanović and Miodrag Milošević, the film combines observation and direct address to present a satirical yet pointed portrait of working-class disillusionment in socialist Yugoslavia.