Modern Archive

Vol. 10 (October 2011)

This month we continue our 2011 focus on Romanian cinema by looking at the work of Adrian Sitaru. After graduating from the U.N.A.T.C film school, Sitaru made his debut feature with Hooked in 2007. In Hooked, a couple sets out on a weekend trip that...

Vol. 22 (October 2012)

Alina Popescu saw The Other Irene (2009) by Romanian director Andrei Gruzsniczki – a modern, minimalist drama starring Andi Vasluianu. For our Retrospectives section, Moritz Pfeifer speaks about Prague Seamstresses, a 1929 comedy from Czechoslavakia which revolves around a young, unmarried wife. Konstanty Kuzma continues...

Vol. 34 (October 2013)

A lot seems to have happened in Hungarian cinema in the past few months. While in recent editorials, we have mostly thought about the government vs. film fund analogy as it applies to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s system and the country’s film fund, national film...

Vol. 46 (October 2014)

Can the great literary works be adapted for the big screen in a satisfying way? Aren’t many of them too elusive, prosaic, stylistically driven? Until a director proves the opposite, many viewers unhappy with cinematic adaptations will continue appealing to such misgivings in order to...

Vol. 58 (October 2015)

In last month’s editorial, we noted how Otar Iosseliani’s Pastorale uses the theme of music and its collective character in particular to launch a large-scale attack on urban individualism – an anti-Soviet critique that we think easily applies to capitalism as well. For a film...

Vol. 68 (October 2016)

The recent opening of the ParkLake Shopping Center– a 70 000 square meter mall situated in the middle of a residential area in Bucharest – may seem to have an unlikely benefactor: the Romanian film industry. For ParkLake, which is being marketed as a place...

Vol. 78 (October 2017)

This month’s issue is dedicated to a theme so diverse and eclectic one can be skeptical whether it can be subsumed under the single heading we chose – “sexuality on screen”. As our contributions reveal, sexuality can be deployed on screen to shock, arouse, provoke,...

Vol. 88 (October 2018)

In collaboration with the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia (CaSFFA) and on the occasion of its recent retrospective, the East European Film Bulletin brings you this issue dedicated to Czech film-maker Věra Chytilová. CaSFFA's retrospective was presented as a season entitled "Original Sins:...

Vol. 98 (October 2019)

Film critics have often waxed eloquent concerning Kira Muratova’s cardinal device, the love of the double, represented through the mirror, the twin, and the double shot; through tautologies and reduplicated lines of dialogue. They’ve also talked about the non-linearity of her work, the seemingly unthinking...

Vol. 108 (October 2020)

In recent editorials, we have addressed the breakdown of the cultural landscape. That edifice made up of events, institutions and diverse networks, has crumbled in the face of a challenge that has primarily been defined as a twofold crisis: of the healthcare system and the...

It has been a long-known fact that the number of women who have won major awards at top tier film festivals can be counted on two hands. Prior to the global wake-up call of the last two years, the numbers were: one in Cannes, four...

Vol. 128 (October 2022)

With a law (article 200) inherited from the Ceaușescu regime, which criminalized same-sex relationships, and which was repealed as late as 2001 as a way for the country to enter the European Union, Romania remains a largely traditional society regarding LGBTQ+ rights. However, customs and...

Vol. 138 (October 2023)

Germany’s reaction to the armed conflict between Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups and Israel that broke out on 7 October 2023, has resulted in a series of prohibitions, ranging from legal bans to symbolic Denkverbote. On October 13th, in Berlin, authorities revoked the right to use...

Vol. 148 (October 2024)

In recent years, Central and Eastern European countries have significantly increased their military expenditures. For instance, Poland’s defense spending rose to 3.8% of its GDP in 2023, marking Europe’s largest proportional increase between 2022 and 2023. Despite this surge in military spending, Central and Eastern European...

Vol. 158 (October 2025)

Is the current boom in horror movies a mirror of our times? Recent commentary appears to suggest so. A Guardian editorial published earlier this month observes that “all horror movies are a reflection of their time, and ours are pretty scary.” Writing for Prospect, James...