Walls, Coats, Shadows

Synopsis

Mladen Stilinović’s Walls, Coats, Shadows is a color film in three parts, focusing on gray walls, dark-toned coats, and fleeting shadows. Though shot in color, the imagery feels monochrome, evoking “gray socialism.” With irony and wit, the film explores absence, uniformity, and fleeting presence, key themes in Stilinović’s work. By omitting faces, he emphasizes anonymity and individual traces within collective life, using structuralist methods to reflect on everyday existence.

Directors' Biography

Mladen Stilinović (1947–2016) was born in Belgrade into a politically engaged family. After living in Prague and Buenos Aires, they settled in Zagreb. His father, a revolutionary and cultural figure, founded key art institutions before his career ended due to conflicts with the Communist Party.