Painstaking observation of architecture, conceptual thought translated into scrupulous cinematography and a sensibility to ideologically charged spaces. Filmmaker and cinematographer Ivan Marković presents three films on buildings of Yugoslav modernism.


Centar (2018, 48’)

While the architecture of Sava Centar still reflects a former idea of the future, every surface reveals its dilapidated state. Through their relentless effort, the maintenance workers shoulder the duty of restoring this Yugoslav congress building to what it was imagined to be.

Inventory (2025, 21’)

Piece by piece, the interior elements that resided in Sava Centar since the 70’s were torn out. Like many of the younger workers, Nenad is in the congress center for the first time, detached from its past and the society that built it.

Similar to Ourselves (2023/2024, 12’)

A vault keeping traces and gifts from distant countries, a space that merges metaphorically distant places — the headquarters of the former Yugoslav company Energoprojekt embodied the ideas of the Non-Aligned Movement. Abundant plants and trees, different species brought from afar 50 years ago, still grow together under the glass roof.

Followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, moderated by Nikola Radić.

Ivan Marković is a filmmaker and visual artist born in Belgrade and living in Berlin. His films screened at numerous festivals, including Berlinale, Doclisboa, Cinéma du Réel, Viennale, New Horizons, Mar del Plata, and Jeonju IFF. His photography and video works were exhibited in galleries and museums such as Bethanien Berlin, Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, ICA London, VAFT Turku, VideoEx Zurich, Austrian Kulturforum, Silent Green Berlin, and SaSa Gallery Phnom Penh. As a cinematographer, he has worked with Angela Schanelec, Marta Popivoda and Dane Komljen, among others.

1 April 2026, 18:00
Filmpodium, Nüschelerstrasse 11, 8001 Zürich

The program is curated and convened by Nikola Radić, as part of the SNSF-funded research project Paranational Cinema – Legacies and Practices at the Film Studies Department, University of Zurich.