Bunker

The unemployment problem in a socialist country.

Film was made during the 1967, in times when first unemployment wave emerges as a consequence of ‘economy reforms’, which will few months later lead to entire wave of workers going abroad for work. I was interested in that contradictory situation so I made a film ‘The Unemployed Men and Women’ and dedicated first 10 minutes to men – confused and insulted for being thrown away to the streets no matter of the ‘promises’. Next ten minutes – ‘Unemployed Women’ – are documents about more realistic, female approaches: accepting jobs as cooks, tailors, but also turning away to ‘sex industry’ that was beginning at the time, strippers and working in bars. The reaction was grim at the Film Committee: OK, we have to give jobs to these idlers and make some sense into them - that we can do! But women who have fallen into sex and lust – it’s impossible to get them back on the right track. Cut out the women, Žilnik, or you won’t get the ‘censorship card’! So I went back and I cut the ‘Women’ out thinking there will be a time to negotiate about it. At Belgrade Film Festival ‘Men’ got second award, Grand Prix in Oberhausen, and I left the poor ‘Women’ on the shelve until today. I’ll bring them to Zagreb so we can all see them after 40 years.  Želimir Žilnik