Lordan Zafranović facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lordan Zafranović
Lordan Zafranović in the 1980s.
Born	(1944-02-11) 11 February 1944 (age 81) Maslinica, Croatia
Years active	1961–present
Awards	Cannes Palme d'Or Nominated 1979 Occupation in 26 Pictures FEST 2023 Belgrade Victor for Outstanding Contribution to Film Art International Short Film Festival Oberhausen - Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen 1967 Afternoon (Rifle) 1972 Suburbs (of Isis) Martovski - Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival 2024 Lifetime Award - Grand Prix 1985 Blood and Ashes of Jasenovac - Best Director Documentary 2003 Terracotta Faces - Best Director Experimental 2003 Celestial City Symphony Pula Film Festival - Big Golden Arena for Best Film 1978 Occupation in 26 Pictures 1981 The Fall of Italy - Golden Arena for Best Director 1981 The Fall of Italy 1986 Evening Bells - Milton Manaki Critics Award 1978 Occupation in 26 Pictures - Mladost Award 1973 Dalmatian Chronicle 1975 Passion According to Matthew Valencia International Film Festival - Valencia Grand Prix 1981 The Fall of Italy Yugoslav Film Archive 2019 Zlatni pečat - Lifetime Award

Lordan Zafranović (born 11 February 1944) is a famous film director from Croatia and Czechia. He is well-known for his films about World War II. These include a special series of three movies: Occupation in 26 Pictures (1978), The Fall of Italy (1981), and Evening Bells (1986). He wrote these films with Mirko Kovač (writer). Lordan Zafranović is also known for his early black and white films. These films made him an important part of a film movement called the Yugoslav Black Wave. He was brave in showing the terrible crimes committed by the Ustaše during the NDH period.

Early Life and Education

Lordan Zafranović was born in 1944 in a place called Maslinica, on the island of Šolta in Dalmatia. This was during the time when Yugoslavia was occupied by fascist forces. For his first two years, he lived in a refugee camp called El Shatt refugee camp with his mother and older brother. After the war, his family moved to Split.

He studied ship engineering and graduated in 1962. Later, from 1963 to 1967, he studied literature and fine arts at the Split Pedagogical Academy.

Starting His Film Career

Lordan Zafranović began making films as a hobby in 1961, when he was 15 years old. He joined a film club called Kino klub Split. By 1965, he started working professionally for Zagreb film. He helped director Vatroslav Mimica and was one of the people who started the famous Zagreb Film Authors' Studio (FAS).

In 1966, he was given the title of Master of International Amateur Film. The next year, he received a scholarship to study at the FAMU in Prague. He was already an experienced filmmaker with awards, especially for his experimental short film Poslije podne (Puška) (1968). He finished his film directing studies at FAMU in 1971. His teacher was Elmar Klos, who had won an Academy Award.

The Prague Film School

Lordan Zafranović was one of five famous Yugoslav directors who studied at FAMU around 1968. Critics called them "The Prague film school". Even though their film styles were different, they were friends. They became a new generation of talented filmmakers in Yugoslavia.

Important Films and Themes

Zafranović's first three feature films were Sunday (1969), Dalmatian Chronicle (1973), and Passion According to Matthew (1975). These films were made during a difficult time in Croatia. In 1973, he moved to Belgrade and joined a group of writers.

The World War II Trilogy

He worked with Mirko Kovač (writer) on his 1975 film Passion According to Matthew. They became very successful internationally with their 1978 film Occupation in 26 Pictures. This movie was a huge hit in Yugoslavia and other countries. It changed the way Partisan films were made in Yugoslavia. The film showed the happy lives of a rich family in Dubrovnik before evil arrived. It showed how fascist occupation and violence destroyed society.

Occupation in 26 Pictures won the Big Golden Arena for Best Picture at the Pula Film Festival. It was also nominated for the Cannes Film Festival and was Yugoslavia's entry for the Academy Awards. In Hollywood, the film was very popular. However, the director refused to shorten a very intense scene of a massacre.

He continued his World War II series with The Fall of Italy (1981). This film is set on his home island of Šolta during the Italian occupation. It tells the story of a young Partisan officer who becomes corrupt because of power. The Fall of Italy won him the Big Golden Arena again.

The third film in the series was Evening Bells (1986), also co-written with Mirko Kovač. It follows a young man who becomes a Partisan and faces many challenges, including being imprisoned. Evening Bells won the Golden Arena for Best Director at the Pula Film Festival.

Exploring Difficult Topics

Throughout his career, Zafranović always made films that matched his creative ideas, even when it was hard. Other directors have praised him as a great talent. Film researcher Dina Iordanova said that his main goal was to show how ordinary people deal with extreme historical events. His films question nationalism and violence.

Like other Yugoslav directors, Zafranović's films sometimes caused arguments. This was especially true when he explored the crimes of the NDH and the Ustaše during World War II. His documentaries Jasenovac: The Cruelest Death Camp of All Times (1983) and Decline of the Century: The Testament of L.Z. (1993) focused on the war crimes trial of Andrija Artuković.

Exile and Return

Before Yugoslavia broke apart in 1991, Zafranović briefly joined a political group. Franjo Tuđman, who later became the first President of Croatia, criticized him for his film Jasenovac: The Cruelest Death Camp of All Times. Soon after Croatia became independent, Tuđman called him an "Enemy of the Croatian people". Because of this, Zafranović had to leave the country.

He took his film about Artuković with him and finished it while in exile. This film, Decline of the Century: The Testament of L.Z. (1993), showed his personal view on the return of fascist ideas in Croatia. He moved to Prague and continued to work for Czech Television. More than ten years later, he returned to Zagreb. There, he made a large TV series about Josip Broz Tito, called Tito – the Last Witnesses of the Testament (2011).

Currently, he is working on a film called The Children of Kozara. The story is about a young girl who is imprisoned in the Ustaša death camp of Jasenovac with her two younger brothers. The film shows her struggle to survive and escape with the help of kind people.

Filmography