Antun Vrdoljak
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Antun Vrdoljak (; born 5 June 1931) is a Croatian film actor and director, sports official, and head of
Croatian Radiotelevision ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...
during the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...
. Between the 1960s and early 1990s he was mainly a film artist. In the early 1990s he became involved in politics and became a prominent member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which led to his appointment to a series of offices. He was director general of Croatian Radiotelevision (1991–1995), and president of the
Croatian Olympic Committee The Croatian Olympic Committee ( hr, Hrvatski olimpijski odbor (HOO)) is the non-profit organization representing Croatian athletes in the International Olympic Committee. The COC organizes Croatia's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olymp ...
(1991–2000).


Life

Born in Imotski, Vrdoljak studied acting at the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art. His acting debut was in a 1957 film ''
It Was Not in Vain ''It Was Not in Vain'' ( hr, Nije bilo uzalud) is a 1957 Yugoslavian drama film directed by Nikola Tanhofer. It was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Boris Buzančić * Mira Nikolić * Mia Oremović * Zlata Pe ...
'' by
Nikola Tanhofer Nikola Tanhofer (; 25 December 1926 – 24 November 1998) was a Croatian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. His first film as director, '' It Was Not in Vain'' was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.> ...
. In 1958, he appeared in Tanhofer's best known film H-8 to much critical acclaim. In the late 1960s, Vrdoljak gradually switched to film directing. Following the events of the Croatian Spring (1968–71), Vrdoljak became associated with
Croatian nationalism Croatian nationalism is nationalism that asserts the nationality of Croats and promotes the cultural unity of Croats. Modern Croatian nationalism first arose in the 19th century after Budapest exerted increasing pressure for Magyarization of Cr ...
. Authorities nevertheless allowed him to continue with his career. This included lavish adaptations of Croatian literary classics such as ''
Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...
'' (1982) and ''
The Glembays ''The Glembays'' ( hr, Glembajevi) is a 1988 in film, 1988 Cinema of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav film Film director, directed by Antun Vrdoljak starring Mustafa Nadarević and Ena Begović. The film is an adaptation of Miroslav Krleža's 1929 play ''Mess ...
'' (1988). When first democratic elections were announced in Croatia, Vrdoljak was among 200 top intellectuals publicly endorsing the moderate
Coalition of People's Accord Coalition of People's Accord (, KNS) was the bloc of mostly moderate nationalist and liberal parties formed on the eve of first multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990. The Coalition was initiated by ex-communists Savka Dabčević-Kučar and ...
. By the end of campaign, he switched his support for the more hardline Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Franjo Tuđman, with whom he developed a close friendship. On 30 May 1990, the new democratically elected
Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sab ...
convened and Franjo Tuđman was elected
President of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...
. Vrdoljak became one of country's six vice-presidents. As such, he was entrusted with the supervision of 1990 European Athletics Championships in
Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...
.


HRT

In December 1990, a new Croatian Constitution was adopted, ending the office of vice-president. A few months later, Vrdoljak was appointed to the post of general manager of
Croatian Radiotelevision ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...
(HRTV), where he promoted Tuđman and the HDZ, working hard to prevent any criticism of government on the programme, while Croatian opposition parties were ignored. Vrdoljak garnered a degree of notoriety for saying television ''"must become a cathedral of the Croatian spirit"''.Vrdoljak's removal from HRTV
; 2 February 1996.
On 16 September 1991, guards at the entrances of the HRT building told more than 300 employees that their passes were no longer valid. The move was attributed to "security reasons". Most of those on the security blacklists were Serbs or married to Serbs. Others may have had a relative in the Yugoslav Army or did not publicly support the HDZ. In describing the role of both Croatian and Serbian national television in the awakening of ultranationalism, Slovenian journalist Sandra Bašić-Hrvatin reflects on the ways in which Croatian television projected itself as "the cathedral of the Croatian spirit" as promised by Vrdoljak: Ivan Parać, Vrdoljak's successor, charged him with corruption. To the opposition, Vrdoljak had been the embodiment of HDZ domination of the media. Although he maintained his seat in Parliament and other positions, he gradually retired from both politics and Tuđman's inner circle.


Professional work

He began his career as an actor and was praised for his role in now classic 1958 film '' H-8'', directed by
Nikola Tanhofer Nikola Tanhofer (; 25 December 1926 – 24 November 1998) was a Croatian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. His first film as director, '' It Was Not in Vain'' was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.> ...
. He received praise for his two early films as a director and screenwriter, '' Kad čuješ zvona'' (1969) and '' U gori raste zelen bor'' (1971). Both films were based on the diaries of Croatian Partisan leader Ivan Šibl. ''When You Hear the Bells'' was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Silver Prize. Vrdoljak worked on television, with his 1972 mini-series ''Prosjaci i sinovi'', based on the script (and later the novel) by Ivan Raos, later receiving a cult status. The series was shown only in 1984, due to Raos' status as a "Croatian nationalist". Vrdoljak also garnered favorable attention for his adaptations of ''Kiklop'' (from the novel by
Ranko Marinković Ranko Marinković (22 February 1913 – 28 January 2001) was a Croatian novelist and dramatist. Born in Komiža on the island of Vis (then a part of Austria-Hungary), Marinković's childhood was marked by World War I. He later earned a degree in ...
, 1982) and ''The Glembays'' (from the play by
Miroslav Krleža Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (''Ba ...
, 1988). Both films were broadcast in their longer TV versions. After securing funding from new government, he directed '' Duga mračna noć'', a mini-series about
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in Slavonia. After the HDZ lost power in
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, Vrdoljak decided to return to film-making. He made news in 2006 due to a quarrel and a physical altercation with fellow filmmaker,
Lordan Zafranović Lordan Zafranović (born 11 February 1944) is a Czech-Croatian film director. He was a major figure of the Yugoslav Black Wave. Early life Lordan Zafranović was born in 1944 in Maslinica, island of Šolta, Dalmatia, during the fascist occupati ...
. In 2019, he directed a state-funded movie entitled ''General'' which depicts the life of
Ante Gotovina Ante Gotovina (born 12 October 1955) is a Croatian retired lieutenant general and former French senior corporal who served in the Croatian War for Independence. He is noted for his primary role in the 1995 Operation Storm. In 2001, the Internat ...
, budgeted at 3 million euros. In the movie, Serbian soldiers are shown as drunk, lazy Chetnik criminals, while the Croatian soldiers are shown as a group respecting the customs of war. Balkan Insight described the movie as reinforcing war myths and of Vrdoljak as toeing the party line: "In Yugoslav times, the party line he followed was that of the ruling League of Communists, while now it is the ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, of which the director used to be a member." ''General'' was panned by critics and received largely negative ratings. The movie opened 2019 Pula Film Festival but did not win any major awards, losing to '' The Diary of Diana B.''. In 2020 it was reported that a number of actors and crew members were not paid for their work on the film, which resulted in some of them to file a lawsuit.


Awards

At the 1960
Pula Film Festival Pula Film Festival ( hr, Pulski filmski festival) is an annual Croatian film festival, established in 1954. It is held in a Roman amphitheater known as the Pula Arena. Pula Film Festival is the oldest Croatian film festival and is usually held ...
, the Yugoslav equivalent of
Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, he won a Golden Arena for his role in
Veljko Bulajić Veljko Bulajić (born 22 March 1928) is a Montenegrin film director and UNESCO Kalinga Prize recipient. He has spent the majority of his life working in Croatia and is primarily known for directing World War II-themed movies from the Partisan f ...
's
nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
film ''
Atomic War Bride ''Atomic War Bride'' ( sh, Rat, lit=War) is a 1960 Yugoslav science-fiction and drama film directed by Veljko Bulajić. The film won three Golden Arena awards at the 1960 Pula Film Festival, including for Best Director (Veljko Bulajić), Best ...
''.


Personal life

Vrdoljak was married twice. Divorced from his first wife, with whom he had one child, he remarried and has three other children. He is the father-in-law of actor
Goran Višnjić Goran Višnjić (; born 9 September 1972) is a Croatian actor who has appeared in American and British films and television productions. He is best known in the United States for his roles as Dr. Luka Kovač in '' ER'' and Garcia Flynn in ''Time ...
who is married to Vrdoljak's daughter, Ivana, an artist known as Eva Višnjić/Eva Visnjic.


Filmography

*
Atomic War Bride ''Atomic War Bride'' ( sh, Rat, lit=War) is a 1960 Yugoslav science-fiction and drama film directed by Veljko Bulajić. The film won three Golden Arena awards at the 1960 Pula Film Festival, including for Best Director (Veljko Bulajić), Best ...
(1960) * '' Love and Some Swear Words'' (1969) * ''
When You Hear the Bells ''When You Hear the Bells'' ( hr, Kad čuješ zvona) is a 1969 Croatian war film directed by Antun Vrdoljak. It was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Silver Prize. In 1999, a poll of Croatian film critics foun ...
'' (1969) * '' The Pine Tree in the Mountain'' (1971) * '' Deps'' (1974) * ''
Snowstorm A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessar ...
'' (1977) * '' The Return'' (1979) * ''
Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...
'' (1982) * '' Od petka do petka'' (1985) * ''
The Glembays ''The Glembays'' ( hr, Glembajevi) is a 1988 in film, 1988 Cinema of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav film Film director, directed by Antun Vrdoljak starring Mustafa Nadarević and Ena Begović. The film is an adaptation of Miroslav Krleža's 1929 play ''Mess ...
'' (1988) * '' Karneval, anđeo i prah'' (1990) * ''
Long Dark Night ''Long Dark Night'' ( hr, Duga mračna noć) is a 2004 Croatian film dealing with World War II in Croatia and its aftermath. It was directed by Antun Vrdoljak and starred Goran Višnjić. It was Croatia's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for ...
'' (2004) * ''General'' (2019)


References


Boks

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrdoljak, Antun 1931 births Living people People from Imotski Croatian Democratic Union politicians Croatian male film actors Croatian film directors Croatian sports executives and administrators Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament International Olympic Committee members Vladimir Nazor Award winners Golden Arena for Best Director winners Yugoslav film directors