Kje je železna zavesa? (Where's the Iron Curtain?)
1961; 13', 35mm
A look at the life and neighbourly relations on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia in the early 1960s. At a time when Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, the two countries succeeded in agreeing on an open border for the local border traffic. Sajko comments on the smooth development of trade at the border crossing with a heavy dose of irony.
Strupi (Poisons)
1964; 13', 35mm
The process of industrialisation has a detrimental effect on the natural environment. Sajko’s film is a warning about the ever-present danger of various industrial waste materials polluting our air and rivers; Sajko was one of the first Yugoslav directors to promote environmental awareness. Believing commentary redundant, and the data on dying animals and harmful emissions irrelevant, he let the images speak for themselves.
Muzej zahteva (The Museum Claims)
1967; 13', 35mm
An exposé of factories whose outdated and inefficient equipment seems better suited for industrial museums than modern manufacturing plants. Another one of Sajko’s daring and bitterly ironic critiques of modern socialist industry. According to Sajko, Slovenia was considered industrially overly advanced in comparison to other Yugoslav republics in the 1960s and thus merited a ban on further progress from the federal authorities!
Samomorilci, pozor! (Suicides, Beware!)
1967; 15', 35mm
Prompted by the rising suicide rates in Slovenia, Sajko makes a film, a kind of cautionary tale, or even ‘psychological therapy’ for people with suicidal tendencies. With his camera, the director visits the families and acquaintances of people who overwhelmed by anxiety, categorizing their testimonies according to the circumstances that drove (mostly young) people to suicide: unrequited love, despair, psychological trauma, etc.
Plamen v dvonožcu (Flaming Biped)
1968; 12', 35mm
A farmer from Baška grapa, a valley located along the Italian border, used his natural flair for technology to invent farm machinery by harnessing the power of water. What’s more, in this process of DIY-ing, he developed (out of boredom or propensity for innovation) some fairly unusual ‘gadgets’.
Slavica Exception (National Costume)
1971; 11', DCP
Slavica lost her job as a bus conductor at the age of twenty. To create a better life for herself, she decided to work as a stripper in a nightclub. While guiding us through the workings of the nightclub, Slavica tells us about her life. How she was abandoned by her scandalized boyfriend, that she’s learning languages to get a ‘normal’ job after she reaches 25, and, of course, about social prejudices.
Narodna noša
1975; 11', 35mm
The national costume has been abused repeatedly by Slovenia’s various political parties and regimes. With certain details deriving from German Alpine regions, the Slovenian national dress nevertheless retains a number of distinguishing local characteristics. Today, the national costumes have become a tourist attraction. This slogan, serving as a synopsis for Sajko's film, was the last straw that closed the door on further filmmaking; turning the national costume and the notion of ‘Sloveneness’ into a target for ridicule was the ultimate insult that called for censorship.