Goran Paskaljević, a Balkan humanist

Goran Paskaljević is an artist whose cinematic career already spans forty years. His work includes fifteen feature films, thirty documentaries and shorts, and is marked by a consistency in both aesthetics and ideology. A humanist, steeped in the simplicity of Italian neorealism and in particular Vittorio de Sica’s work, Paskaljević makes films that are based on simple narratives which describe, sincerely and delicately, the life and struggle of ordinary people; people who suffer the consequences of historical events and are forced to find ways to cope in the face of adversity. Always siding with the weak and oppressed, Paskaljević tells stories of the human condition, giving voice to the small existentialist dramas of young and older people alike, of those living on the fringes of society and of the underprivileged. He treats his characters with warmth and empathy, putting forward their human dimensions, complete with faults and merits. Avoiding stereotypes and clichés, he neither moralizes nor manipulates his audience. Even though in most cases the situations his characters come up against are beyond their control and ultimately their struggle proves in vain, the effort they make, the tenderness they manage to maintain, the faith they put in their dreams and fantasies, are not only moving in themselves but also give rise to a feeling of optimism, constituting expressions of resistance against predetermined fate.
Paskaljević’s films draw on real life, illustrating the full range of human emotions and bringing to the fore the humanity of three-dimensional characters, their striving and their unquenchable hope for a better life. His ability to get the most out of his actors – whether amateur or professional – helps him elicit performances that always ring true, thereby reinforcing the authenticity of the narrative.
Against a backdrop of his national reality, Paskaljević tells stories which underscore the complexity and contradictions of the socio-political conditions of his time. Without aiming to make openly political films, he is nevertheless incapable of remaining detached from what is going on in his country: with a critical eye, he observes and records the events shaping local life, addresses the fundamental social tensions that underpinned the politics of his country during the 90s, and carries out a covert critique of society which is usually expressed through metaphor and symbolism. Paskaljević captures the mood of his native land; describes social ties (especially intergenerational relationships) and life in the city and in the country; and addresses the hardships of immigration, social and political transitions and, of course, the impact of civil war on his country.
Avoiding happy ends or melodramatic compromises, refusing to cater to viewers or to extort their emotions, Paskaljević tells us stories which, though invariably marked by a tendency for demystification and pessimism, never fail to move us, reaching beyond their national context and winning international acclaim, as much from the critics as from the public. With a strong feeling for detail and a knack for capturing the right atmosphere, often implementing a verité filming style that sets off the dramatic texture of events, and by combining realism and poetry, dark humor and irony, Paskaljević creates an anthropocentric film écriture that ideally serves the critical way in which he sees and approaches life. In this way, he is able to successfully convey his vision and produce an important body of work that stands as a testament to his era and, as such, contributes to our understanding of his society and his people. An achievementwhich, beyond any doubt, ranks Paskaljević among today’s leading European filmmakers.

Dimitris Kerkinos