URBOGLYPHS: Multiplying the City: Transformations of the City – Movie Afternoon – February 24, 2024.

Transformations of the City – Movie Afternoon – February 24, 2024. MO “Matko Laginja”, M. Laginje St. 11.

[urboglyphs [Lat. urbs = city] + [Gr. glyphē = engraving] are symbolic and spatial accumulations of signs and meanings created by multilayered inscription of various events in the same place, through which we read the urban collective memory of the city, reconstructing the intangible cultural and political heritage of urban spaces.]

The “Urboglyphs – Multiplying the City” project at the Matko Laginja Local Committee begins with a carefully selected film program this Sunday, February 25, starting at 4:00 PM. It deals with the transformation of places, locations, and the city. We reflect on space as text and as a resource available to us in all its complexity.

The film program starts with the experimental film “Plac” by Ana Hušman, which uniquely presents common issues of the Dolac Market in Zagreb, such as: which products are local and which are imported, and whether something is a woman’s or a man’s job. Immediately following is the anthology film “Work in Progress” by Spanish director J. L. Guerin, one of the most important documentary filmmakers in Europe, which shows the demolition of a building in a working-class neighborhood of Barcelona and the construction of a new structure, along with all the dynamics accompanying the demolition, excavation of the foundation, and construction. These screenings will be attended by the author of the film “Plac,” Ana Hušman, architect and urban planner Ivan Mlinar, with the discussion moderated by cultural anthropologist Sonja Leboš.

Following a twenty-year practice of dealing with the city, its material and intangible heritage, reading spaces, and educating citizens about the resources of shared spaces, the Shadow Casters organize this project titled “Urboglyphs: Multiplying the City.”

After the first Saturday mentioned, a week later, on February 24, there will be a “Twisted Performance”, a play made in collaboration with participants from the FROOOM! film school. This event is interactive and sensory, and children and young people (from 8 to 80 years old) and playful seniors can participate in certain parts.

The next session, on Sunday, March 10, is excellent for bringing children, as the famous animated film by Jiří Trnka “The Emperor’s Nightingale,” an adaptation of the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, will be shown. Following this is the short Croatian film “And Then I See Tanja” directed by Juraj Lerotić, which tells the story of teenager Željko and his younger brother who live alone.

Another Sunday, March 24, is reserved for children and adults. The schedule includes the Portuguese film “Stone in the Pocket” (dir. Joaquim Pinto), which follows the story of a boy who must spend his summer vacation at his aunt’s small seaside hotel as punishment. Along with it is “Into the Blue” (dir. Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović), where we follow the girl Julia who arrives on an idyllic island with her mother, fleeing from bullying.

Both films, “Stone in the Pocket” and “Into the Blue,” treat puberty and its problems in entirely different ways. In J. Pinto’s film, the protagonist is a confused young man who gets into all sorts of troubles, while in A. Alamat Kusijanović’s film, the protagonist is a girl with problems she tries to resolve through conflicts with friends. An interesting fact about the latter film is that its “protagonist” later appears in the award-winning film by the same director, “Murina,” which won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.

For Saturday, April 13, a feature-length documentary is scheduled, which follows a story that has been unfolding for the last 20 years in the vicinity of the Matko Laginja Local Committee. It is the film “Vitić Dances” by director Boris Bakal, which depicts the story of a skyscraper near the location where the aforementioned film program takes place.

Interesting guests and the opportunity to participate in discussions and debates following the screenings await you at all programs.

Support for the project: City of Zagreb
Support for Shadow Casters: National Foundation for Civil Society Development, Kultura Nova Foundation, Croatian Audiovisual Center
Film screenings enabled by the EU project CinEd – Let’s Watch Together