Upon Zilnik’s return to Yugoslavia after his German exile, he directed a series of cooperative television and cinema works for TV Belgrade and TV Novi Sad. These progressive films foreshadowed the growing tensions and socio political upheaval that would soon forever change the social order throughout the Balkans. In Brooklyn – Gusinje,a young seamstress is lured to a bordering mountain town between Yugoslavia and Albania to wait tables in a cafe with the promise of freedom and more money. She falls in love a man—recently returned from New York—who she hopes will rescue her from the drudgery of her everyday life and bring her back to the States. Žilnik uses this love story as the pretext for examining Albanian family values and traditions, particularly the strained relationship between the younger and older generations. The result is a uniquely intimate study of integration, tradition and culture in the Balkans that attempts to mitigate ethnic ignorance and the increasing hostility toward the Albanians.