Liberation afoot. Movement(s) in Early Yugoslav Partisan Film (1947–1962)
Liberation afoot explores early Yugoslav partisan cinema (1947–1962) and its role in shaping the myth of the partisan struggle, which laid the foundations for the new socialist state. Through its portrayal of movement, the films construct a sense of Yugoslav space and identity, reflecting the country’s political and cultural transformation. Using movement—e.g. marching, dance, and autonomous walking—as a metaphor for socialist ideals and revolutionary change, the films frame the partisan struggle as a fight for both physical and ideological territory. All the while, the Yugoslav project is depicted as being at a crossroads between creative, liminal and anti-governmental »deterritorializing« forces and stabilizing, »reterritorializing« law-&-order-tendencies. One key motif is the emphasis on collective foot marches, which puts constant mobility and changeability at the core of Yugoslav socialism, inscribing Yugoslav identity with the fluidity and ambiguity of partisan struggle.
Olja Alvir is an author, literary translator, and researcher based in Vienna. Her interdisciplinary work spans literature, film, cultural criticism, and political essays. Her dissertation, Liberation afoot, examines early Yugoslav partisan cinema and its depiction of movement as a symbol of political resistance. Alvir received the Ingeborg Ohnheiser Prize for her master’s thesis and worked and taught at the Institute of Slavic Studies from 2022 to 2025. Alvir has published essays, cultural criticism, and short prose in derStandard.at and other German-language media. Through her reports on, and exploration of, the politics of migration, she has emerged as a progressive voice in political and social discourse. Her debut novel, Kein Meer, was published by Zaglossus Verlag in 2016. In 2021, she won the wir sind lesenswert literary competition with her poem Pomelo, followed by international poetry publications, including in The Kenyon Review. Her multilingual poetry collection, Spielfeld/Špilfeld/Playground (2022), was released in German, English, and Croatian. As a translator, Alvir specializes in poetry, but you can also catch her doing live subtitles for the Austrian Film Museum.
»Kvir Oficir. On Cake, Trash and (Partisan) Women in Yugoslav Film«, in: Elena Messner, Cristina Beretta, Goran Lazičić, Markus Gönitzer (eds.), Women and Partisan Art. Aesthetics and Practices of Resistance in Yugoslavia und Carinthia, Bielefeld 2025 (im Erscheinen).
»Stuck on Slavica. Yugoslav partisan film and its multiple stickinesses«, in: Clara Podlesnigg, Fadekemi Olawoye, Kerim Doğruel (eds.), Sticky Films, Lüneburg 2025 (im Erscheinen).
»Nieder mit der Sprossenwand! Brechen wir mit der Vorstellung des sozialen Aufstiegs«, in: Francis Seeck and Brigitte Theißl (eds.), Solidarisch gegen Klassismus – organisieren, intervenieren, umverteilen, Münster 2020.
What are resistant feet? In the imagery of social struggle and progressive movements, it’s often the hand or fist that symbolizes resistance—gripping tools, shaking in unity, or being raised in triumph. But feet? They hardly feature at all.