Oktavijan Miletić (1 October 1902 – 17 August 1987) was a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

ian cinematographer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. His

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

work in the period from 1928 to 1945 remains as one of the foundations of Croatian film. Miletić was one of the founders of the Zagreb film club in 1928. Miletić participated in an amateur film competition in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1933 with his ''Poslovi konzula Dorgena'' and received an award from Louis Lumière. His 1937 film ''Šešir'' was the first Croatian movie filmed with sound. In the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

, Miletić filmed three cultural films for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Tobis Film Tobis Film was a German film production and film distribution company. Founded in the late 1920s as a merger of several companies involved in the switch from silent to sound films, the organisation emerged as a leading German sound studio. Tob ...

: ''Hrvatski kipari'', ''Hrvatski seljački život'' and '' Agram, die Hauptstadt Kroatiens''.Miletić's film from '42 found
Jutarnji list While all three films were originally thought lost, Daniel Rafaelić discovered ''Hrvatski seljački život'' in a

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

film archive in 2004 and in 2008 discovered ''Agram, die Hauptstadt Kroatiens'' in a German film archive. In 1942 he filmed '' Barok u Hrvatskoj'', about the life of count Janko Drašković. In 1944 Miletić filmed the full-length feature '' Lisinski'' about the Croatian composer

Vatroslav Lisinski Vatroslav Lisinski (, 8 July 1819 – 31 May 1854) was a Croatian composer. Lisinski was born Ignatius Fuchs to a German Jewish family. He would later change his name to Vatroslav Lisinski, which is a Croatian calque of his original name. For a ...

. He spent the waning months of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

working to safekeep the films of the Croatian state institute Hrvatski slikopis. In 1967 he received the

Vladimir Nazor Award The Vladimir Nazor Award ( hr, Nagrada Vladimir Nazor) is a Croatian prize for arts and culture established in 1959 and awarded every year by the Ministry of Culture. Named after the writer Vladimir Nazor (1876–1949), the prize is awarded to C ...

for lifetime achievement in film arts. The Oktavijan Award is awarded annually by the Croatian Association of Film Critics as part of the Days of Croatian Film. He was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, which is also where he died.

Filmography

*''Most'' (1938) *'' Barok u Hrvatskoj'' (1942) *'' Agram, die Hauptstadt Kroatiens'' (1943) *'' Lisinski'' (1944)

References

External links

*
Oktavijan Miletić
biography at hrfilm.hr {{DEFAULTSORT:Miletic, Oktavijan 1902 births 1987 deaths Croatian cinematographers Croatian film directors Film people from Zagreb Vladimir Nazor Award winners Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery