Key Moments
Why We Are Rebuilding a Cinema in a Small Serbian Village | Efim Graboy | TEDxSavski Venac
TEDKey Moments
Rebuilding a 40-year-closed Serbian cinema aims to counter the isolating effects of personalized digital media, but the success of shared experiences is hard to quantify.
Key Insights
The "9:00 p.m. couch test" used by streaming platforms prioritizes films that are easily digestible for tired viewers, potentially sidelining art that requires effort and discomfort.
Algorithmic content delivery creates increasingly personalized realities, leading to a "slow disappearance of a shared space" where people often have no idea what others are seeing.
A restored 180-seat cinema in a small Serbian village is being brought back to life, with locals actively participating in fundraising and expressing nostalgia for shared past experiences.
The speaker views cinema as a "gym for human connection and human soul," where shared attention on a screen can foster a sense of belonging and combat loneliness.
Restoring the cinema is presented as an experiment to see how a physical space for collective experience will affect a community of 1,000 people, particularly regarding relationship quality and connection.
Cinema as a collective dream ritual
The speaker, a filmmaker and video therapist, views cinema not just as entertainment but as a profound healing ritual akin to shamanic practice. Filmmaking involves diving into the unconscious to collect experiences, which are then encapsulated into a film. The subsequent act of watching is a shared ritual where strangers gather in a specially designed space, a darkened room, to focus their attention collectively on a screen. This shared focus allows individuals to simultaneously see their own reflection within the dream and feel the energy of those around them, creating a collective experience. This echoes ancient human needs for shared storytelling, dancing, and prayer around a fire, evolving through theater and concerts to cinema, all centered on shared time, attention, and narrative. While individual interpretation varies, a common point of reference is crucial for understanding, discussion, and coexistence.
The erosion of shared space by streaming platforms
The rise of streaming platforms and the pandemic's push towards home viewing have accelerated a shift away from communal cinematic experiences. The speaker highlights a disturbing industry metric: the "9:00 p.m. couch test," where films must compete for the attention of a tired individual after a long day. This metric, he argues, incentivizes the creation of easily consumable content that avoids complexity, discomfort, or boredom – qualities often found in important, challenging art. Films that require effort, patience, or take viewers to uncomfortable places may fail this test, leading to a potential superficialization of art. Furthermore, the constant fight for attention online trains individuals to seek immediate gratification and switch away from anything difficult, potentially weakening the "muscle" of sustained attention and resilience. This environment shapes a specific kind of person, one unaccustomed to resistance or deep engagement.
The personal algorithmic bubble and its societal cost
A significant crisis, according to the speaker, is the "slow disappearance of a shared space" driven by personalized algorithms. Each person now experiences a unique stream of audiovisual information, living in different narratives with little understanding of what others are consuming. These algorithmic systems are seen not as external forces but as reflections of our own values, particularly the desire for popularity and success. When these become the primary measures of worth, individuals risk losing their inner rhythms and personal paths. The speaker refrains from offering definitive answers on the societal implications but expresses a strong will to act.
Reviving a forgotten cinema in a Serbian village
This drive to act has led the speaker to a small Serbian village, Gardinoti, where he co-founded an art residency. In 1961, a cinema was built there during Yugoslavia under Tito, but it had been closed for 40 years. Through conversations with older villagers, he learned that the cinema was a vital center of village life, hosting screenings once or twice a week that brought the entire community together. While the villagers didn't always recall specific films, they vividly remembered the shared experience – the place, the atmosphere, and the social connections. One woman's reflection that despite having fewer material comforts than today's youth, they were happier and less lonely underscored the value of those shared experiences. When plans arose to remove the cinema seats and convert the building, the speaker intervened, convincing the village head he could revive it. For two years, he and a diverse group of friends and locals have been restoring the building, recently launching a successful crowdfunding campaign. The anticipation within the village is palpable, with residents eagerly discussing potential opening films and reminiscing about past visits, indicating the spirit of the cinema is already returning.
Cinema as a gym for human connection
The restoration project is framed as an experiment: what will happen when a physical space for 180 people, designed for collective experience, is brought back to life in a village of 1,000? The speaker is personally interested in measuring the impact on the quality of life, relationships, and new connections formed. He posits that human relationships are a practice requiring training, and he sees cinema as a "gym for the human connection and human soul." The simple act of sitting next to each other, looking in the same direction, and watching the same story can momentarily create a feeling of belonging and shared humanity, combating the pervasive sense of individual isolation. This is presented as a vital counterpoint to relentless technological advancement.
Taking responsibility for our attention and choosing connection
Ultimately, the speaker suggests that technology is a reflection of our chosen values. Instead of focusing solely on technological progress, he urges introspection on what we value and what kind of society we want to build. For him, the core value lies in having people by his side, sharing processes and experiences, rather than achieving goals alone. He identifies loneliness as a central theme, questioning what we hide from by retreating into personalized digital worlds. He concludes with a call to action: take responsibility for our attention, which is too precious to be surrendered to companies constantly testing products on us. This requires awareness and a conscious choice to sometimes opt for the unknown or less popular, especially if done together. He encourages people to watch films together again, whether by going to a cinema for a non-commercial film or gathering with friends, leaving phones behind, and being present for each other. The revived cinema in Gardinoti stands as an invitation to rediscover this shared human experience.
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Common Questions
The speaker views cinema as a deep healing ritual and a shared dream experience, where a filmmaker's internal journey is translated into an audiovisual capsule that connects a collective audience through shared attention and narrative.
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