Milja Radovic

It was a pleasure to meet Milja Radovic for my penultimate interview from southern Scotland. Milja is carrying out interdisciplinary research on acts of citizenship in film as well as in film and aesthetics. She was born in Belgrade back when it was the capital of Yugoslavia during the reign of Tito, and we begin our conversation by discussing her experience of sitting on an Ecumenical film jury in the Czech Republic and ponder the question as to why some countries have a film culture while others do not.

Milja talks about being an only child and reflects on the carefree and protected childhood in which she grew up. She has been living in the UK for 14 years which precipitates a discussion of what and where is home, including the possibility that home might be something one carries in oneself and that it comprises both embodied space and a part of our memory. We also consider whether one’s home can be a place you never saw.

Milja reflects on how she remembers her childhood as a series of fragments, in particular remembering Kintergarden, hospitals and the cinema which she ran away to at the age of 6 in order to see ‘Star Wars’ (leading to the police having to be called). Milja remembers watching the Eurovision Song Contest, especially when Johnny Logan won, and the influence of British bands such as The Clash and TV programmes such as ‘Only Fools and Horses’ and ‘Monty Python’ (in relation to which Milja recently met Terry Gilliam). A particularly strong musical memory for her is Opus and ‘Live is Life’ which she associates with eating ice cream in Belgrade in the summertime, and we also share Duran Duran memories.

Milja’s first degree was in Theology and Philosophy which she undertook in Belgrade. This leads to a conversation about her innate curiosity and the necessity to always ask ‘Why?’ questions. She sees writing, including her PhD, as psychotherapy and as autobiographical. We then unpack the term ‘impact’ and the degree to which it needs to be ‘authentic’ and what the future of HE might be like and what happens when we over-quantify ourselves. Milja also explains why interdisciplinary study is so important to her.

In the final part of the interview we talk about whether we can be nostalgic in the context of abusive and violent relationships and we learn whether Milja is a looking back or a looking forward type of person, and whether she believes the future is written or not.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Milja Radovic and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.