Yugoslavia

CROATIA

Although best-known internationally for its animation and documentaries, Croatia was also an important center of feature film production. Branko Marijanović (b. 1923) and Fedor Hanzeković (1913–1997) were among the directors of the first Croatian films after World War II, most often war films or historical adaptations of literary classics. Beginning in the 1950s, Croatian film production came mostly from Jadran Film Studio in Zagreb. Branko Bauer (1921–2002), best known for his Ne okreci se sine ( My Son Don't Turn Round , 1956), and Krsto Papić (b. 1933), the director of Lisice ( Handcuffs , 1970), were the most prolific directors at the time. One of the best-known Croatian animators, Vatroslav Mimica (b. 1923), also became a successful director of live-action films. Veljko Bulajić (b. 1928), who was one of the favorite directors of the Communist regime, directed many films in Croatia, including the historical epic Sarajevski Atentat ( The Day That Shook the World , 1975). History and ethics were the main preoccupations of the two Croatian members of the Yugoslav Prague Group, Rajko Grlić (b. 1947) and Lordan Zafranović (b. 1944), who received international recognition for visually striking dramas. However, after the war they continued their careers abroad. Branko Schmidt, Davor Zmegac, and Jakov Sedlar belong to the youngest generation of Croatian filmmakers, as does Vinko Brešan (b. 1964), whose satirical look at the ethnic conflict in Kako je počeo rat na mom otoku ( How the War Started on My Island , 1996) and Maršal ( Marshal Tito's Spirit , 1999) brought him immediate domestic and international recognition.