Croatian Society of Film Critics SHAKY PERIOD ‘ ‘ ‘The of INFECTION : SHOWSHOWSHOW MUSTMUSTMUST SELECTED TEXTS by the MEMBERS of GOGOGO the CROATIAN SOCIETY of FILM CRITICS ‘ from 2018 / 2019 ONONON! SHAKY PERIOD of ‘INFECTION‘ — ‘The SHOW MUST GO ON‘! he project you are looking at started at a time when our biggest concerns were the failure of T the most expensive Croatian film since indepen- dence, the stagnation of funds for complementary film ac- tivities and the diminishing presence of film criticism in the media. Today, after an earthquake that has shaken near- ly a quarter of Croatia’s population and in the midst of a global corona virus pandemic, those worries seem like a jest. We do not know what awaits us, but it is clear that the cultural sector will end up poorly in the new cards shuf- fling. It always does. New problems will not erase the old ones, but will aggravate them, and therefore: in the time of ‘Infection’ — ‘The Show Must Go On’! The world will not stop, neither should we. HRVOJE PUKŠEC — DIRECTOR OF THE CROATIAN SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS ContentsContents InIn LIEU ofof an an 7 LIEU � INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION TheThe DIARY ofof DIANA B. — aa 9 DIARY DIANA B. — � REMARKABLEREMARKABLE PICTURE PICTURE TheThe LAST LAST SERB SERB in in — a and 13 CROATIACROATIA — a WITTY WITTY and � COMPLEXCOMPLEX RETHINKING RETHINKING ofof the the NATIONAL NATIONAL GENERALGENERAL — — is is THERE THERE a as a - 17 SUCHSUCH a THING THING as a STATE STATE- � BUILDINGBUILDING NATIONAL NATIONAL NARRATIVENARRATIVE in in CINEMA? CINEMA? F20 — aa JOURNEY 22 F20 — JOURNEY � intointo MADNESS MADNESS LADALADA KAMENSKI KAMENSKI — — FEMALEFEMALE WORKERS WORKERS 27 CAUGHTCAUGHT in in the the SYSTEMIC SYSTEMIC � INJUSTICEINJUSTICE INHERENT INHERENT toto FREE FREE MARKET MARKET MYMY GRANDPA GRANDPA IS IS an an ALIENALIEN, ,SUMMERHOUSE SUMMERHOUSE andand 31 LADA LADAKAMENSKI KAMENSKI � —— PROGRESS PROGRESS MADEMADE in in CROATIAN CROATIAN FEATUREFEATURE FILMS FILMS DIYDIY YEAR YEAR of of the the CROATIAN MUSIC CROATIAN MUSIC, :: , 35 VIDEOVIDEO KANDŽIJA KANDŽIJA � AKLEAAKLEA NEON NEON, , NINANINA ROMIĆ ROMIĆ and and PORTOPORTO MORTO MORTO TheThe ofof the the 44 RISE RISE CROATIAN CROATIAN � ANIMATEDANIMATED PUPPET PUPPET NONNON--PROFESSIONALPROFESSIONAL FILMSFILMS — — aa FIELDFIELD 48 EVEREVER VIBRANT VIBRANT, ,EVER EVER � ACTIVEACTIVE and and in in EVER EVER GREATERGREATER NUMBERS NUMBERS DOCUMENTARYDOCUMENTARY MYTHS MYTHS or: on a 52 or: on a FEW FEW CROATIAN CROATIAN � DOCUMENTARIESDOCUMENTARIES fromfrom 2019 2019 , LASTLAST DAYS DAYS of of SUMMER SUMMER , SUMMERHOUSESUMMERHOUSE and and 58 EXTRACURRICULAREXTRACURRICULAR — � THREE— THREE PROFESSIONAL PROFESSI- ONALLEVELS LEVELS OnOn CROATIAN CROATIAN CINEMA CINEMA 73 PROGRAMMESPROGRAMMES at at � CINEMACINEMA TU TUŠKANACŠKANAC SERGIJESERGIJE GLUMAC GLUMAC: : ,, 77 GRAPHICGRAPHIC ARTS ARTS � GRAPHICGRAPHIC DESIGN DESIGN, , SETSET DESIGN DESIGN FILMFILM GRAMMAR GRAMMAR of of : 81 VIDEOVIDEO GAMES GAMES :NEW NEW � MEDIAMEDIA MODALITIES MODALITIES ofof PRESENTATION PRESENTATION NEVERNEVER--ENDINGENDING PICTURESPICTURES — — The The PASSIPASSINGNG ofof AANDRIJANDRIJA 86 PIVČEVIĆPIVČEVIĆ and and the the � RESURRECTIONRESURRECTION ofof MARTINACMARTINAC’S’S HOUSEHOUSE on on the the SAND SAND INTERVIEWINTERVIEW with with ALDOALDO PAQUOLA PAQUOLA, , WINNERWINNER of of the the 2019 2019 91 CROATIANCROATIAN SOCIETY SOCIETY � ofof FILM FILM CRITICS CRITICS’ ’ VLADIMIRVLADIMIR VUKOVIĆ VUKOVIĆ AWARDAWARD for for LIFETIME LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENTACHIEVEMENT TheThe CLOSING CLOSING of of ZAGREBZAGREB’S’S KINO KINO 97 EUROPAEUROPA or or WHEN WHEN � THINKINGTHINKING GOES GOES outout of of STYLE STYLE OnOn CINEMA CINEMA ATTENDANCEATTENDANCE and of the 102 ((and INCOME) INCOME) of the � CROATIANCROATIAN FILM FILM in in CINEMASCINEMAS in in 2019 2019 ……andand MORE MORE PRODUCTION 110 PRODUCTION � 20182018//20192019 114 CreditsCredits � 7 In LIEU of an INTRODUCTION he Croatian Society of Film Critics, just like the Croatian public in general, is facing reduced media T coverage when it comes to film. Regardless, there are more films being made than ever before; there is no cultural, media or social platform that nowadays does not count on film. It does not matter if it is short, feature, docu- mentary, animated or experimental. So film is everywhere, and yet, paradoxically enough, it appears that contem- plating film is no longer amusing to the general audiences. Are critics writing about films the public is not interest- ed in? Have the viewers stopped expecting films to offer reality-decoding algorithms? Has cinema given up? Have the audiences? t is impossible to provide an unambiguous answer to these and any other (film-related) questions. I What we can be certain about is that film makes for a perfect document of a time, and as such represents both an extraordinary potential and a platform for reflecting on our surroundings, reality and the moment. Simply said, even when it does not talk about anything, film talks about something. That is why it ought to be listened to and heard. It ought to be taken seriously even when the film and its au- diences have grown weary; film critics simply cannot enjoy that luxury. Especially when talking about Croatian cinema, which is barely seen in Croatia, let alone abroad. The rea- sons are numerous, but certainly one of the most import- ant ones is that there is very little coverage of it, especially in the English language. Even when the Croatian film scene gets discussed out in the great wide world, it is predomi- nantly done by foreign critics and press. Consequently, it leads to a diminishing influence of the Croatian film criti- cism on the international plane, the same sort of influence which is usually acquired through writing about what feels closest — namely films produced within the respective au- thor’s culture. or all of the reasons stated here, we have decid- ed to make this bilingual publication happen, F which also represents a certain indication of fu- ture work of the Croatian Society of Film Critics. We want to and we have to write about film, and if there is no room for our endeavours — we will make some our- selves. Currently, there is no media platform in Croatia that would continuously and weekly write about the (Cro- atian) film, so the CSFC has a moral and professional re- sponsibility to change that. Thinking about film, writing about film, insisting on film is our reality, but also our ne- cessity because… what is a better reflection of our society than our overall annual film production? All of our pride, fears, thoughts and feelings are woven into it. We need to watch them, face them and attempt to explain them both to ourselves and to others. HRVOJE PUKŠEC — DIRECTOR OF � THE CROATIAN SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS THE LAST SERB IN CROATIA 9 The DIARY of DIANA B. — a REMARKABLE PICTURE WRITTEN BY MARIJANA JAKOVLJEVIĆ hen new creative practices arise in using film lan- guage, genres, technical and technological pos- W sibilities in a moving picture, and consequently in national cinema as a whole, it increases the artistic lev- el of creation, so we can truly talk about shifts in film as a work of art. Every authorial ingenuity that enriches the film is welcome. he best example of this is The Diary of Diana B., a very particular film directed and co-written by Da- T na Budisavljević. She was the well-deserved win- ner at the Pula Film Festival, the best Croatian film ac- cording to the jury, the critics and the viewers. It must be noted that this is the first feature film, or more precisely feature-length docu-fiction, by the experienced and suc- cessful documentarian and ORIGINAL TITLE Dnevnik Diane ORIGINAL TITLE Dnevnik Diane editor Dana Budisavljević. Budisavljević … YEAR 2019 … Budisavljević … YEAR 2019 … RUN- RUNNING TIME 88’ … COUNTRY OF She is the first woman to be NING TIME 88 min … COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION Croatia, Slovenia, PRODUCTION Croatia, Slovenia, awarded the Grand Golden Serbia … DIRECTED BY Dana Bu- Serbia … DIRECTED BY Dana Bu- disavljević … WRITTEN BY Dana Arena for Best Festival Film disavljević … WRITTEN BY Dana Budisavljević, Jelena Paljan … Budisavljević, Jelena Paljan … and the second woman to win CAST Alma Prica, Igor Samobor, CAST Alma Prica, Igor Samobor, Mirjana Karanović, Vilim Matu- the Golden Arena for Best Di- Mirjana Karanović, Vilim Matu- la, Areta Ćurković, Ermin Bravo la, Areta Ćurković, Ermin Bravo rector since Croatia’s inde- … PRODUCTION Hulahop, Decem- … PRODUCTION Hulahop, Decem- ber, This and That Productions pendence. The film won two ber, This and That Productions more Golden Arenas: one was awarded to Marko Ferković for Best Editing and the oth- er to the brothers Alen and Nenad Sinkauz for Best Mu- sic. It also received the Golden Gate of Pula and a film critics’ award by the international organization FEDEORA. After Pula, the film continued to win big at festivals both in Croatia and abroad. A significant number of viewers, over 30,000, watched the film in Croatian theaters, but al- so abroad, especially in Croatia’s neighboring countries. he film’s tagline ‘A True Story about the Best Peo- ple in the Worst Times’ immediately draws atten- T tion to very important and very sensitive historical events. Its title, on the other hand, addresses the topic, i.e. the extremely important work and personality of the great humanitarian Diana Budisavljević, unjustly barely known, shown right at the beginning of her completely voluntary and selfless efforts in saving Serbian and Jewish children from concentration camps in the Nazi-occupied Croatia during World War II. he fictional part of the film is based on Diana Bu- disavljević’s diary, which has recently been found T and published. She was an Austrian Catholic mar- ried to Julije Budisavljević, a renowned Orthodox doctor from Zagreb, and a woman who saw all people as being equal and who cared about every human being, especial- ly children. Due to the highly sensitive subject, historical research was conducted over the course of several years. The organizational credit for that goes to the production house Hulahop, which took care of the production and now deals with the distribution of the film.