20th Festival 1973

Forty of the finest films of Yugoslavia’s Zagreb Studios were shown in a special Zagreb Retrospective, attended by the Studio’s director, the late Zelimir Matko. With censorship now apparently a dead issue, the festival presented eight programs of ‘missing masterpieces’ – some of them previously banned – at the State Theatre in the centre of the city. The eight films were: Romain Gary’s Birds in Peru (France), Darius Mehrjui’s The Cow (Iran), Masahiro Shinoda’s Double Suicide (Japan), John Boorman’s Leo the Last (UK); Vilgot Sjoman’s I Am Curious Yellow and Blue (Sweden); Fellini’s, Malle’s and Vadim’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination; Luis Buñuel’s The Milky Way; and Nicolas Roeg’s and Donald Cammell’s Performance.

The festival proper opened with Lindsay Anderson’s O Lucky Man! and closed with Ralph Bakshi’s sensational animated film Fritz the Cat. Thirty-three features were shown in the main program: Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Barbet Schroeder’s The Valley, Claude Chabrol’s The Butcher, Costa-Gavras’ State of Siege (all France); Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and Merchant of Four Seasons and Schlöndorff’s Straw Fire (all West Germany); Kjell Grede’s Klara Lust (Sweden); Rafael Corkidi’s Angels and Cherubs (Mexico); Jan Lomnicki’s A Slip-Up (Poland); Francesco Rosi’s The Mattei Affair (Italy); Egon Gunther’s The Third (East Germany); Ousmane Sembene’s Emitai (Senegal); Mike Leigh’s Bleak Moments, Philippe Mora’s Swastika and Steve Dwoskin’s Dyn Arno (all UK – a special programme of Dwoskin shorts was also shown); Jerry Schatzberg’s Scarecrow and Paul Morrissey’s Warhol milieu opus Trash (both USA); André Delvaux’s Rendezvous at Bray (Belgium); Gilles Carle’s True Nature of Bernadette (Canada); Nagisa Oshima’s Dear Summer Sister (Japan); Miklos Jancso’s Red Psalm (Hungary); Juraj Herzs’ Morgiana (Czechoslovakia); Ephraim Kishon’s The Policeman (Israel); Larissa Schepitko’s You and Me (USSR); Darius Mehrjui’s The Postman (Iran – Mehrjui attended the screening); Alain Tanner’s The Salamander (Switzerland); Lester James Peries’ The Treasure (Sri Lanka); and Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come (Jamaica).

Shorts included: Bruno Bozzetto’s Pickles; Krsto Papic’s A Little Village Performance and Special Trains; Bill Douglas’ My Childhood; Jan Lenica’s Paradise and Fantorro; Joan Long’s The Passionate Industry; Don Owen’s Cowboy and Indian; Stig Björkmann’s lngmar Bergman; Ryan Larkin’s Street Musique, Michael Rubbo’s OK Camera; and Vlatko Gilic’s One Day More. There were also two long enthnographic documentaries from Australia: Jef and Su Doring’s Tidikawa and Friends and lan Dunlop’s Towards Baruya Manhood.