Želimir Žilnik

Želimir Žilnik is a Serbian-Slovenian artist-filmmaker. In his highly prolific career, Žilnik has made over 50 feature and short films, which have been exhibited internationally at film festivals including Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, Moscow and Oberhausen. From the late 60s, his socially engaged films in former Yugoslavia earned him accolades, but also censorship in the 70s and the 90s for his unflinching criticism of the government apparatus. His power to observe and unleash compelling narratives out of the lives of ordinary people is the common thread throughout his work.

Žilnik has been the subject of major career retrospectives at Harvard Film Archive, 2023; Kunsthalle Wien, 2020/21; Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2019; Cinemateca Argentina, 2018; Mar del Plata Int. Film Festival, 2017; Anthology Film Archive, New York, etc.

His work has been featured in programs of art galleries, museums and art institutes around the world (Documenta, Kassel, Germany; Venice Biennale, Italy; ICA London, UK; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA; MUMOK, Vienna, Austria; MACBA, Spain; Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico, etc.).