Vlatko Gilić
Directing
- Born
- January 1, 1935 (age 91) · Podgorica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia [now Montenegro]
Vlatko Gilić (born 1 January 1935 in Podgorica, Montenegro, then Yugoslavia) is a Yugoslav director and writer whose work spans documentary and fiction and is closely associated with formally rigorous, philosophically inflected cinema of the late 1960s and 1970s. Between 1966 and 1980 he directed thirteen films—eleven shorts and two features—earning international recognition including a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Grand Prix at Oberhausen.
Gilić’s films are marked by a slow, observational style that blends documentary material with allegory, ritual, and metaphysical inquiry. Often drawing on Christian symbolism and social critique, his work examines power, mortality, labor, and human futility through carefully structured imagery and restrained narration. Key films from this period include In continuo (1971), Backbone (1975), and Days of Dreams (1980), as well as a series of shorts that circulate internationally through archives and cinematheques.
Read moreShow less
After 1980, Gilić largely withdrew from filmmaking and transitioned into academia, teaching and continuing to write screenplays. Though interviews and public appearances have been rare, his films have remained in circulation and critical discussion, preserved in major archives such as the Harvard Film Archive, and are regarded as a distinctive body of work within Yugoslav and European art cinema.
Known for
Behind the camera22
- 1986Volunteers Writer
- 1986Montenegrin Athos Director
- 1981Season of Peace in Paris Writer
- 1980Days of Dreams Director, Writer, Production Design
- 1978Destinies Writer
- 1975Backbone Director, Writer
- 1973The Bombers Writer
- 1973Power Director, Writer
- 1972A Day More Director, Writer
- 1972Judas Director, Writer
