LOVE AFFAIR, OR THE CASE OF THE MISSING SWITCHBOARD OPERATOR *  1967 * (Ljubavni slučaj / ili tragedija službenice P.T.T.) * Directed by Dušan Makavejev * 68 minutes * In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles
doors open at 20:00, film starts at 20:30.

Once again we will be screening another early film by the amazing Dušan Makavejev. In outline, this is the story of the romance between a young telephonist and a middle-aged rat exterminator that goes haywire. Yet in Dušan Makavejev’s hands, this film isn't just a strange story, but becomes an innovative, free-form exploration on the themes of love and freedom... laying the groundwork for a razor-sharp look at relationships in sixties Belgrade. Breaking away from traditional ideas of narrative storytelling, the film often shifts away, for example, to interviews with a sexologist and a criminologist giving their crazed opinions... or suddenly we find ourselves listening to a poem about exterminating rats. This film is based on a true story, and includes some of the most elegant dramatic filmmaking of the director’s career.

A free-wheeling movie that mixes romance and satire, documentary footage, melodrama and tragedy. And as always with Makavejev, what we are left with is a bizarre cocktail of Yugoslavian-styled surrealism. This is a true cinema of the imagination. It's one of the crucial films from the Eastern block in the 60s, and it's a very rare screening, so I hope to see you there!

This will be a high-definition screening.