NEWSREEL 242 – SUNNY RAILWAYS

Obzornik 242 – Sunčane pruge

Slovenia | 2023 | 31 min | col.

In 1947, 211,000 young Yugoslavians, along with over 5,000 from other nations, engaged themselves in the construction of the Šamac-Sarajevo 247 km-long railway. An extraordinary and enthusiastic turnout, part and parcel of Tito’s philosophy, according to which volunteering and the sense of community should lay the foundations of the new Yugoslavia. The young were crucial for the building of several important infrastructures, such as railways, bridges, and factories. The film immortalizes their impetus through an amazing period document, a newsreel that shows them complete the railway with pickaxes and shovels in just 7 months. That dream was to end in rivers of blood and mass graves with the 1990’s war, during which the railway was damaged. Today, it is used by those who seek the future promised, among many uncertainties, by Europe. Nika Autor invites us to reflect whether a dream besides capitalism can still exist and whether we will be able to capture it while inventing the future. (l.f.)

Film also available on the MYmovies ONE platform for 72h.