Dušan Makavejev

Directing

Dušan Makavejev

Born — Died

1932-10-13 — 2019-01-25

Place of birth

Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Known for

Directing

Credits

48 titles

Dušan Makavejev was a Serbian film director and screenwriter, famous for his groundbreaking films of Yugoslav cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Known for

Sweet Movie poster
5.3

The winner of the Miss World Virginity contest marries, escapes from her masochistic husband and ends up involved in a world of debauchery.

Sweet Movie

1974

The Coca-Cola Kid poster
5.4

An eccentric marketing guru visits a Coca-Cola subsidiary in Australia to try and increase market penetration. He finds zero penetration in a valley owned by an old man who makes his own soft drinks, and visits the valley to see why. After "the Kid's" persistence is tested he's given a tour of the man's plant, and they begin talking of a joint venture. Things get more complicated when the Coca-Cola man begins falling in love with his temporary secretary, who seems to have connections to the valley.

The Coca-Cola Kid

1985

The Soldier's Tale poster
6.9

A soldier, returning home from war, chances upon a stranger who offers to buy his violin. The stranger is none other than the devil.

The Soldier's Tale

1984

WR: Mysteries of the Organism poster
6.2

What does the energy harnessed through orgasm have to do with the state of communist Yugoslavia circa 1971? Only counterculture filmmaker extraordinaire Dušan Makavejev has the answers (or the questions). His surreal documentary-fiction collision begins as an investigation into the life and work of controversial psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and then explodes into a free-form narrative of a beautiful young Slavic girl’s sexual liberation.

WR: Mysteries of the Organism

1971

I Miss Sonia Henie poster
5.4

One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.

I Miss Sonia Henie

1971

Manifesto poster
4.3

In a small European country, the king is scheduled to visit a small, quiet and "safe" village. It turns out that while the village may indeed be small, it's neither as quiet nor as safe as it's expected to be.

Manifesto

1988

Film credits

2000s · 1 titles

Behind the camera

Sweet Movie poster
5.3

The winner of the Miss World Virginity contest marries, escapes from her masochistic husband and ends up involved in a world of debauchery.

Sweet Movie

1974

Sweet Movie poster
5.3

The winner of the Miss World Virginity contest marries, escapes from her masochistic husband and ends up involved in a world of debauchery.

Sweet Movie

1974

The Coca-Cola Kid poster
5.4

An eccentric marketing guru visits a Coca-Cola subsidiary in Australia to try and increase market penetration. He finds zero penetration in a valley owned by an old man who makes his own soft drinks, and visits the valley to see why. After "the Kid's" persistence is tested he's given a tour of the man's plant, and they begin talking of a joint venture. Things get more complicated when the Coca-Cola man begins falling in love with his temporary secretary, who seems to have connections to the valley.

The Coca-Cola Kid

1985

WR: Mysteries of the Organism poster
6.2

What does the energy harnessed through orgasm have to do with the state of communist Yugoslavia circa 1971? Only counterculture filmmaker extraordinaire Dušan Makavejev has the answers (or the questions). His surreal documentary-fiction collision begins as an investigation into the life and work of controversial psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and then explodes into a free-form narrative of a beautiful young Slavic girl’s sexual liberation.

WR: Mysteries of the Organism

1971

WR: Mysteries of the Organism poster
6.2

What does the energy harnessed through orgasm have to do with the state of communist Yugoslavia circa 1971? Only counterculture filmmaker extraordinaire Dušan Makavejev has the answers (or the questions). His surreal documentary-fiction collision begins as an investigation into the life and work of controversial psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and then explodes into a free-form narrative of a beautiful young Slavic girl’s sexual liberation.

WR: Mysteries of the Organism

1971

WR: Mysteries of the Organism poster
6.2

What does the energy harnessed through orgasm have to do with the state of communist Yugoslavia circa 1971? Only counterculture filmmaker extraordinaire Dušan Makavejev has the answers (or the questions). His surreal documentary-fiction collision begins as an investigation into the life and work of controversial psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and then explodes into a free-form narrative of a beautiful young Slavic girl’s sexual liberation.

WR: Mysteries of the Organism

1971

I Miss Sonia Henie poster
5.4

One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.

I Miss Sonia Henie

1971

Manifesto poster
4.3

In a small European country, the king is scheduled to visit a small, quiet and "safe" village. It turns out that while the village may indeed be small, it's neither as quiet nor as safe as it's expected to be.

Manifesto

1988

Manifesto poster
4.3

In a small European country, the king is scheduled to visit a small, quiet and "safe" village. It turns out that while the village may indeed be small, it's neither as quiet nor as safe as it's expected to be.

Manifesto

1988

Parade poster
7.0

Filmed in Belgrade in 1962, Parade documents the city’s engagement with the annual May Day celebration by largely ignoring the formal procession. Instead, Dušan Makavejev records the informal moments surrounding it: workers, officials, wanderers, and organizers negotiating space, hierarchy, and appearance. Shot with a detached, humorous eye, the film assembles a mosaic of everyday behavior that reveals the contrast between official ceremony and lived social reality.

Parade

1962

Parade poster
7.0

Filmed in Belgrade in 1962, Parade documents the city’s engagement with the annual May Day celebration by largely ignoring the formal procession. Instead, Dušan Makavejev records the informal moments surrounding it: workers, officials, wanderers, and organizers negotiating space, hierarchy, and appearance. Shot with a detached, humorous eye, the film assembles a mosaic of everyday behavior that reveals the contrast between official ceremony and lived social reality.

Parade

1962

Hole in the Soul poster
6.0

A self-portrait documentary of Dusan Makavejev who travels to former Yugoslavia, and charts the changes of the society which parallels to his own life.

Hole in the Soul

1994

Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator poster
6.7

After many adventures, a young female switchboard operator starts a love relationship with a serious young man. But while he's away on business, she gets lonely and succumbs to her colleague's passes.

Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator

1967

Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator poster
6.7

After many adventures, a young female switchboard operator starts a love relationship with a serious young man. But while he's away on business, she gets lonely and succumbs to her colleague's passes.

Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator

1967

Man Is Not a Bird poster
6.1

A Serbian engineer falls for a younger woman, but he is inept at courtship.

Man Is Not a Bird

1965

Man Is Not a Bird poster
6.1

A Serbian engineer falls for a younger woman, but he is inept at courtship.

Man Is Not a Bird

1965

Montenegro poster
6.2

Marilyn Jordan, an American, lives in Stockholm with her Swedish husband and family. Her behavior is bizarre, perhaps mad: she poisons the dog's milk and advises the dog not to drink it; she sets the sheets afire as her husband sleeps; she crawls under the dining table to sing. While detained at airport customs for carrying pruning shears, she meets a young Yugoslav woman and goes with her to a Gypsy enclave where she's fought over, takes a lover, helps with the sordid entertainment at a bar, and returns home more dangerous than before. The film also tells parallel stories of Marilyn's daughter becoming a junior homemaker as the young immigrant practices her striptease.

Montenegro

1981

Montenegro poster
6.2

Marilyn Jordan, an American, lives in Stockholm with her Swedish husband and family. Her behavior is bizarre, perhaps mad: she poisons the dog's milk and advises the dog not to drink it; she sets the sheets afire as her husband sleeps; she crawls under the dining table to sing. While detained at airport customs for carrying pruning shears, she meets a young Yugoslav woman and goes with her to a Gypsy enclave where she's fought over, takes a lover, helps with the sordid entertainment at a bar, and returns home more dangerous than before. The film also tells parallel stories of Marilyn's daughter becoming a junior homemaker as the young immigrant practices her striptease.

Montenegro

1981

No artwork available
9.0

Makavejev archives the symbolism of a folk tradition by piecing a cinematic quilt from Kilim weavings of different hands.

Dreaming Colors

1958

Miss Beauty 62 poster
10.0

Sarcastic look at a 1962 Yugoslav beauty contest.

Miss Beauty 62

1962

Miss Beauty 62 poster
10.0

Sarcastic look at a 1962 Yugoslav beauty contest.

Miss Beauty 62

1962

Gorilla Bathes at Noon poster
5.5

A Red Army major caught between East and West Berlin finds his wife gone and somebody else moved into his apartment.

Gorilla Bathes at Noon

1993

Gorilla Bathes at Noon poster
5.5

A Red Army major caught between East and West Berlin finds his wife gone and somebody else moved into his apartment.

Gorilla Bathes at Noon

1993

Damned Holiday poster
8.0

To Makavejev, each tombstone is a vicar for its resident spirit; it haunts, roams, and makes conversation.

Damned Holiday

1958

No artwork available
7.0

Short by Makavejev.

Down with the Fences

1962

Smile 61 poster
8.0

Socialist work ethic meets youthful exuberance and lightheartedness where backbreaking labor does not ruin anyone's summer vacation.

Smile 61

1961

Smile 61 poster
8.0

Socialist work ethic meets youthful exuberance and lightheartedness where backbreaking labor does not ruin anyone's summer vacation.

Smile 61

1961

Innocence Unprotected poster
6.7

A documentary about the famous athlete and movie enthusiast who made Serbia's first sound film, Innocence Unprotected. The Nazi occupation of Belgrade prevented the film from gaining wider acclaim. Director Makavejev intersperses clips of the original film with interviews of surviving cast and crew members, as well as newsreel and archival footage.

Innocence Unprotected

1968

Innocence Unprotected poster
6.7

A documentary about the famous athlete and movie enthusiast who made Serbia's first sound film, Innocence Unprotected. The Nazi occupation of Belgrade prevented the film from gaining wider acclaim. Director Makavejev intersperses clips of the original film with interviews of surviving cast and crew members, as well as newsreel and archival footage.

Innocence Unprotected

1968

Wet Dreams poster
5.8

Experimental anthology film consisting of nine segments - Contrasts, The Janitor, The Plumber, Another Wet Dream, The Happy Necrophiliacs, On a Sunday Afternoon, A Face, Politfuck, Flames - all focused on 70s sex, love and politics.

Wet Dreams

1974

No artwork available
NR

The film shows the life of a book in an interesting and visual manner, through film tricks and backward movement. It shows the way from the bookstore to the printing process.

Film About a Book

1962

No artwork available
NR

The film shows the life of a book in an interesting and visual manner, through film tricks and backward movement. It shows the way from the bookstore to the printing process.

Film About a Book

1962

No artwork available
8.0

Short by Makavejev.

New Toy

1964

No artwork available
8.0

Short by Makavejev.

New Toy

1964

No artwork available
6.4

This short doc is about changes occurring in Yugoslav rural life as it begins to reap the benefits of motorization, e.g. delivering fruits and veggies to market by automobile, but with a bitter theme: progress is set against horses sent to the slaughter as the car becomes the new domestic animal replacing the animals that had hitherto worked for man.

New Domestic Animal

1964

No artwork available
6.4

This short doc is about changes occurring in Yugoslav rural life as it begins to reap the benefits of motorization, e.g. delivering fruits and veggies to market by automobile, but with a bitter theme: progress is set against horses sent to the slaughter as the car becomes the new domestic animal replacing the animals that had hitherto worked for man.

New Domestic Animal

1964

Beekeeper's Scrapbook poster
7.0

An examination of the surprisingly morbid world of 17th and 18th century Slovenian beekeeper drawings to guide the bees back to the right hive.

Beekeeper's Scrapbook

1958

Educational Fairy Tale poster
10.0

Grandma, disturbed by her grandchildren, decides to tell them about the adventures of Comrade Snow White.

Educational Fairy Tale

1961

Educational Fairy Tale poster
10.0

Grandma, disturbed by her grandchildren, decides to tell them about the adventures of Comrade Snow White.

Educational Fairy Tale

1961

Danish Girls Show Everything poster
5.8

Despite its suggestive title, this multi-part Danish omnibus film is not a work of exploitation. Instead, it presents 20 different short films (back-to-back) on the general theme of Danish women, directed by filmmakers including Krzysztof Zanussi, Monika Treut, Gustav Hamos, David Blair, Vibeke Vogel, Dusan Makavejev, Morten Skallerud and Lars Norgaard. Some dramatic vignettes mix with other comedic ones, but all are offbeat and experimental. The picture includes one animated sequence (by Norgaard).

Danish Girls Show Everything

1996