Lordan Zafranović

Experimental short.

Documentary about the life and work of Ivan Martinac (1938-2005), avant-garde & experimentalist filmmaker from Split, Croatia.

The Focus is the film about easy death on the Mediterranean sun.

Compressing one idle day in the life of a young artist by rotating the camera through his room, a sort of a self-portrait of Lordan Zafranović resembles a one-shot film, its grainy photography and moody music suggesting a meditative atmosphere characteristic for Split authors of his generation.

An epic documentary of rise and fall of Ustasha regime in Croatia.

An experiment with 'anti-language' in detail (in composition, in changing plans, in exposition, etc.). Proof that the general rhythm and those miraculous 'pixels' that are not seen in the projection really mean a lot, if not everything.

Students from the Prague Academy of Film (FAMU) talk about their life in Prague. Filmed in Prague in 1968, a few months before the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.

We encounter the controversial Croatian film director Lordan Zafranovic in voluntary exile in Prague. The film follows his rise from a talented outsider to the celebrated Yugoslav director of the acclaimed war film, 'An Occupation in 26 Pictures'. His life story is an unconventional depiction of a rise and fall that reveals compromises made in order to survive artistically during communism, as well as the missed opportunities and miscalculations that led to his inability to adapt in later years. Is the charismatic Zafranovic a national traitor or a victim of historical circumstances in which the only thing he wanted to do, in his own words, was to be himself and make films?

A couple meet and walk down the streets of Split all the way to the shore. This is the second film Zafranović ever made and the oldest preserved.

SEVEN THOUSAND SOULS is a documentary - a feature film about the suffering of Serbian and Russian soldiers and interned civilians in Austro-Hungarian camps on the territory of today's Czech Republic, Jindrihovice and Broumov. The camps had about 500 facilities where there were about 60,000 prisoners of war. Extremely difficult working conditions, no food, no shoes and clothes, winter and infectious diseases, all this affected the fact that 7,100 Serbs did not survive the camps. There is a mausoleum in Jindrihovice where the remains are victims of these camps - 7100 Serbs and 189 Russians. It is the second largest Serbian tomb in the world.

Predrag Popovic, Goran Markovic, Srdjan Karanovic, Rajko Grlic and Lordan Zafranovic talk about the Russian intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Trials and tribulations of a Croatian communist intellectual in the turbulent years before, during and after the Second World War.

Trials and tribulations of a Croatian communist intellectual in the turbulent years before, during and after the Second World War.

One summer afternoon, three old desperadoes violently shatter a pure and innocent love.

One summer afternoon, three old desperadoes violently shatter a pure and innocent love.

Summer noon, solstice, pilot’s love under an olive tree and when everything is at its zenith – nature and people explode.

Summer noon, solstice, pilot’s love under an olive tree and when everything is at its zenith – nature and people explode.

The dance school in Split and maestro Juti - a legend of several generations who passed their "first waltz" at his school.

The dance school in Split and maestro Juti - a legend of several generations who passed their "first waltz" at his school.

Compressing one idle day in the life of a young artist by rotating the camera through his room, a sort of a self-portrait of Lordan Zafranović resembles a one-shot film, its grainy photography and moody music suggesting a meditative atmosphere characteristic for Split authors of his generation.

Compressing one idle day in the life of a young artist by rotating the camera through his room, a sort of a self-portrait of Lordan Zafranović resembles a one-shot film, its grainy photography and moody music suggesting a meditative atmosphere characteristic for Split authors of his generation.

On a hot summer afternoon in a city courtyard, a young man amuses himself by aiming air guns at random targets. The film examines the roots and manifestations of Evil, which will become the director’s permanent concern.

On a hot summer afternoon in a city courtyard, a young man amuses himself by aiming air guns at random targets. The film examines the roots and manifestations of Evil, which will become the director’s permanent concern.

Based on the novel of Arsen Diklić which describes the horror’s of concentration camp Jasenovac.

Based on the novel of Arsen Diklić which describes the horror’s of concentration camp Jasenovac.

Unreleased film based on the book Ostrvo Balkan by Vidosav Stevanovic about the Bosnian War and the ethnic nationalism which led to it.

Unreleased film based on the book Ostrvo Balkan by Vidosav Stevanovic about the Bosnian War and the ethnic nationalism which led to it.

Set in Dubrovnik, this drama chronicles a friendship between three men, that began just before World War II. One of the men is of Italian origin, another is the wealthy heir of a shipping fortune, and the third is the son of a Jewish antique-store owner. Before the war, they are fast friends, enjoying one another's company at carnivals and at a private fencing club. However, when the war comes, the Italians and Germans move in to create the Independent State of Croatia. The Italian friend becomes a fascist and courts and marries the sister of his rich friend. Soon enough, atrocities are being committed, and anyone suspected of Jewish or Serbian parentage or anti-fascist leanings, is killed.

Set in Dubrovnik, this drama chronicles a friendship between three men, that began just before World War II. One of the men is of Italian origin, another is the wealthy heir of a shipping fortune, and the third is the son of a Jewish antique-store owner. Before the war, they are fast friends, enjoying one another's company at carnivals and at a private fencing club. However, when the war comes, the Italians and Germans move in to create the Independent State of Croatia. The Italian friend becomes a fascist and courts and marries the sister of his rich friend. Soon enough, atrocities are being committed, and anyone suspected of Jewish or Serbian parentage or anti-fascist leanings, is killed.

An epic documentary of rise and fall of Ustasha regime in Croatia.

An epic documentary of rise and fall of Ustasha regime in Croatia.

A celebrated theatre director’s perfect life unravels when his wife’s secret lover exposes the hollowness beneath his success, leading to a calm divorce and his isolation in a luxurious but empty villa with his nearly grown daughter. His attempts to fill the void through a high-end escort only delay the real crisis, when he cannot accept his daughter’s first great love.

The camera follows four people, musicians, on their walk through the city, seemingly in real time. They go through photogenic city squares and streets and end up at the beach.

The setting is the islands off the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, during WW II. The islands are controlled by occupying Italian forces, and a resistence movement of Communists is dedicated to sabotaging and ending the occupation. When a wealthy young man joins the resistence, he falls in love with a woman who turns out to be a spy for the Italians. As a result of his liaison and her activity, they are both executed by a Communist comrade - a previous friend. The comrade is dedicated to the hard-line policies of the resistence, until he himself falls in love with the daughter of a bourgeois landowner on the island - a landowner who has collaborated with the Italians. Neither the Italian occupying army (one officer is shown in an attempted rape scene) nor the resistence fighters are stereotyped forces for good or evil, but all are equally subject to the dehumanizing effects of war.

The setting is the islands off the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, during WW II. The islands are controlled by occupying Italian forces, and a resistence movement of Communists is dedicated to sabotaging and ending the occupation. When a wealthy young man joins the resistence, he falls in love with a woman who turns out to be a spy for the Italians. As a result of his liaison and her activity, they are both executed by a Communist comrade - a previous friend. The comrade is dedicated to the hard-line policies of the resistence, until he himself falls in love with the daughter of a bourgeois landowner on the island - a landowner who has collaborated with the Italians. Neither the Italian occupying army (one officer is shown in an attempted rape scene) nor the resistence fighters are stereotyped forces for good or evil, but all are equally subject to the dehumanizing effects of war.