Faire parler les archives des non-alignés

Stacks of forgotten reels in archive rooms. Rushes, never viewed or even filed. And in these sleeping images, the echo of a time when nations were seeking to map out a third way, refusing to conform to the Eastern or Western blocs. Serbian film-maker and artist, Mila Turajlić has dived into the unique cinematography archives of the former Yugoslavia, vestiges of a disappeared country, to give a voice once more to the aspirations of the non-aligned. Through the eyes of Stevan Labudović, official cameraman to President Tito, she has been able to recover the birth of the movement: Belgrade, Algiers, the streets and the summit meetings where anti-imperialist struggles were organised. A vast quantity of material, which she has already transformed into a diptych of documentaries: Non-alignés & Ciné-Guérillas : Scènes des archives Labudović.

Her new stage offering extends her work, and questions what remains of the ideals carried by these images. How can the archives become a protection from forgetfulness? The artist comments directly on the archives, overlaying these fragments of history onto more contemporary testimonies and sound recordings. In this way, she creates an inspiring performance, in which memory helps to mark out the middle way.