How and why do historical figures become key to our memories of the past? How do specific places become sites of post-imperial memory? And how are former empires personified through objects and material culture? Analyzing the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, Dr. Jeremy Walton will look at how collective memories are created through persons, places, and things (and how these memories determine our present and future). The empires of the past are remarkably present today. Former imperial capitals bask in faded imperial glory. Imperial nostalgia is a magnet for tourism and a model for political reform. The documentary Revenant explores the legacies of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires and their impact on current culture and politics. Drawing on the expertise of scholars and impressions of everyday observers, Revenant reveals both the dizzying variety and dramatic continuity of yesterday’s empires today.

Tomislav Žaja was born in 1967 in Zagreb, Croatia. He earned his master’s degree in Documentary Film Directing at the FAMU in Prague. He is a multi-awarded author of more than fifty documentary films. He is a member of the Documentary Association of Europe and the International Documentary Association.