Po isti poti se ne vračaj (Don’t Come Back by the Same Way)

Slovenian construction companies recruit workers from Yugoslav republics, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina. They promise good pay, but the new ‘home’ is anything but welcoming. The film depicts the living conditions of the workers and the financial and personal difficulties they face in a foreign and hostile environment in a detailed and uncompromising manner. In Yugoslavia, neither audiences nor critics wanted to see this film after its completion: As unpleasant as the revelation of Slovenian xenophobia is, as harsh is the criticism of the mentality of the locals who do not welcome the newcomers, even though they are desperately needed to build a bright and modern future. Slovenian hardcore realist and passionate cinema troublemaker Jože Babič shows a high form of social realism. (V.M.)