Les Échos de l'Histoire
Dragana Zarevac
2001 - 51 min - Couleur - Allemagne, France, Serbie

This documentary examines the relationship between history and memory. It begins with the director's reflection about the two often inseparable ways of describing fleeting time. The main thread of the film is the history of Serbia, from the time when the Slavic tribes arrived in the Balkans and the first Serbian states were founded, to the nineties. Historical facts most often deal with monarchs and wars. The images that are related to history therefore show portraits of monarchs, ancient weapons or geographical maps of the ever-changing borders of Serbia. The history of the 20th century is also illustrated by archive documentary footage, and the film shows monarchs in situations related to music: galas, receptions, parades or funerals.
Claiming the ancient Greeks' theory – "like State, like music" – as her own, the author decided to represent memory through the music that characterises each era of the important songs of the various historical moments punctuate or underline the historical continuity. The five musicians-performers, each singing in a different manner, produce a spoken or sung commentary on the narrative. Their voices blend in a common love for their own culture and in their desire to preserve it, to pass it down, and to make their interpretations penetrate collective memory.