The  concern of this lecture is the short  overview of  the (fiction) Holocaust films  in ex Yugoslav and Serbian cinema from 1945 to today. The analysis of more than 50 titles  that  fall into three  time periods (1945- 1977, 1978-2005, 2006-    ) neatly reveals the changes of poetics and politics of the representation of the Holocaust  in the ever turbulent historical circumstances (from the Cold War  to the break up of former Yugoslavia). Few of the paradigmatic titles that would feature in the overview are Himmelkommando (1961), The Ninth Circle (1960), Bitter Herbs (1966), Balkan Express (1983), Dara of Jasenovac (2021)… In the end the poetics and politics of Holocaust films would be compared  with the poetics and politics of the representation of the genocide committed in the wars of the Yugoslav break up (Quo Vadis Aida, 2021…).

PhD Nevena Daković is a full time professor, film theorist, critic and publicist. At the Department of Theory and History of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, she teaches film and screen media studies at all study levels; directs doctoral studies in Theory of Dramatic Arts, Media and Culture and she is the director of the Institute for Theatre, Film, Radio and Television (FDA).