Drugs, infernal hairstyles and Communism: Belgrade nightlife of the 80s

It is not surprising that the 1980s are remembered by Serbs with special nostalgia, because less than a decade later Yugoslavia was mired in a series of terrible wars that killed hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions of people to leave their homes.

It was a time when elements of Western culture - punk, new wave, big ridiculous hairstyles and a Rubik's cube - gradually began to displace the usual communist way of life from consciousness more and more. It seems that in the 1980s, parties and get-togethers took place literally on every corner of Belgrade. According to Belgrade photographer Miladin "Djela" Djelicic, "the 80s were not the golden age of Belgrade, but they were definitely silver."

Miladin and his wife Nadia took an active part in the nightlife of Belgrade in the 80s. In the period from 1982 to 1988, Jela constantly took a camera with him to parties and filmed this quintessence of exuberant Balkan fun. In his photo, people are dancing, hugging, singing, trying to take a sexy pose or just showing their fatigue. Many of the heroes of these pictures are already dead — most of them have become victims of excessive alcohol and drug use.

"I think people were very beautiful during my youth, although they are beautiful now. Nothing has changed since then, except for me — I got older. Then we had a lot of fun, but I still don't mind having fun," says Miladin Zhelichich.