Splav Meduze (The Raft of Medusa). 1980. Yugoslavia. Directed by Karpo Godina. 35mm. In Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian; English subtitles. 100 min.
The Raft of Medusa imagines—or possibly even recreates—an affecting footnote in the history of the newly invented Yugoslavia of the 1920s, when Serbian Dadaists and Surrealists encountered peasant communities still recovering from the devastation of World War I. Godina’s debut feature was written by the legendary godfather of the Yugoslavian avant-garde, Branko Vučićević, who was also instrumental in launching the careers of the Black Wave directors Želimir Žilnik and Dušan Makavejev. Print courtesy the Slovenian Cinematheque and the Slovenian Film Center.