Why I don t speak serbian (in serbian)
Director Phil Collins
Countries
Duration 35 min
Synopsis
zasto ne govorim srpski (na srpskom) is a short film which investigates the relationship between language and memory in ethnically divided Kosovo. Using the community’s complicated relationship with the Serbo-Croat language as a reflection of an ambivalence towards its history and identity, the film collects testimonies of a number of contributors – from politicians, intellectuals and public figures to ‘ordinary’ people – recounting in Serbian the reasons why they no longer speak the language. Filmed around the time of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, zasto ne govorim srpski (na srpskom) weaves at moments unbearably intimate close-ups with an intricately constructed soundtrack in a fragmented and affecting panorama of the country’s recent past.
zasto ne govorim srpski (na srpskom) is a short film which investigates the relationship between language and memory in ethnically divided Kosovo. Using the community’s complicated relationship with the Serbo-Croat language as a reflection of an ambivalence towards its history and identity, the film collects testimonies of a number of contributors – from politicians, intellectuals and public figures to ‘ordinary’ people – recounting in Serbian the reasons why they no longer speak the language. Filmed around the time of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, zasto ne govorim srpski (na srpskom) weaves at moments unbearably intimate close-ups with an intricately constructed soundtrack in a fragmented and affecting panorama of the country’s recent past.