With Non-Aligned Newsreels: Fragments from the debris, Mila Turajlic invites the audience into a process of confronting archival material which has fallen out political narratives. The starting point is the recovery of a trove of reels kept in the vaults of the Yugoslav Newsreels in her hometown, Belgrade. Footage filmed by Yugoslav cameramen starting from the 1950s across a decolonising world takes us within the ranks of the Algerian Liberation Movement and FRELIMO, to newly-independent countries such as Mali and Tanzania, and the foundational gathering of the Non-Aligned Movement which took place in Belgrade in 1961. Employing VJ-ing techniques to layer this ‘resurfaced’ footage with oral histories, sound recordings and personal archives into a confessional speculation, Turajlic performs the challenges of giving voice to unfulfilled political projects. The live ‘excavation’ opens a space where she and the audience journey together exploring the poetics of the fragmentary.

Duration: 70 minutes

Text, direction and performance: Mila Turajlić
Artistic direction: Barbara Matijević
Production: Par Avion and Théâtre National de Bretagne, Centre Dramatique National (Rennes – France)

EVOLVING ITERATIONS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED AT:

The Mosaic Rooms, London, March 2023
Théâtre National Chaillot, Paris, April 2023 (French version)
Scottish Documentary Institute, Edinburgh, April 2023
Crossing the Line programme: a series of conversations with filmmakers who challenge the boundaries of documentary cinema
EYE Museum Conference, Amsterdam, June 2023
Archival Assembly, Berlin, June 2023
Théâtre Nationale de Bretagne, Rennes, November 2023 (French version)
Center for Documentary Research and Practice, Indiana University, Bloomington March 2024
Le Bal, Paris, May 2024 (French version)
Bertha DocHouse, London, May 2024
Our Many Easts, MG+MSUM, Moderna Galerija Summer Schoo, Ljubljana, August 2024
L'image dans les blancs de l'histoire, Seminaire automnale du Bal avec l'EHESS, Paris, October 2024
Théâtre Nationale de Bretagne, Rennes, November 2024 (3 nights, French version)
Sharjah Biennial opening week, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, February 2025
Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels, May 2025 (5 nights)
Les Rencontres à l’échelle, LE ZEF - scène nationale de Marseille, Marseille, June 2025
Public Trust, Philadephia, August 2025
FIT Festival International de théâtre, Lugano, October 2025

Festival des Libertés, Theatre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Brussels, October 13, 2025

UPCOMING
Spielart Festival Munich, October 17-22, 2025
LIVE DOCUMENTARY, WORKSHOP, EXHIBITION & FILM SCREENINGS
Lo schermo dell'arte, Florence, November 12, 2025 - Opening night performance 

Maputo, October 2025

Festival EuroScènes, Leipzig, November 7-8, 2025
Le Quai à Angers, November 19&20, 2025
Saison 2025-2026: Deplacer les montagnes @ Théâtre de la Bastille, Paris, April 2026

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2025

“An unprecedented artistic formula… the public won’t escape a shiver down the spine. Mila Turajlić has brought back to life that moment in history when Yugoslavia invented a third political path in the Cold War.” — La Libre Belgique

“Her device allows us to see her face alongside her research — a decade of work streaming past. We share her nostalgia for a political ideal, feel the urgency of her analysis, and hear her warning about nationalist demagogy. The audience, silent throughout, applauded for a long time.” — La Libre Belgique

“A revealing and moving lecture-performance. Turajlić succeeds in surpassing sentimental nostalgia or post-communist bitterness, combining empathy and analysis, and giving that story a human face.” — De Tijd

“An archive must live… Turajlić tells the story of how she found it, what she discovered, and how she re-synchronised image and sound. She reveals another narrative — sometimes rough, sometimes polished — a necessary counterpoint to imperialist discourse.” — De Tijd

“A masterclass in media literacy. The visual formulas and rhetoric that dominate the media to this day were invented here.” — Pzazz

“Through testimonies, we realise these more-than-sixty-year-old images are still political dynamite. The world might have looked very different without the obligation to march in step with a binary ideology.” — Pzazz