Since the 1960’s, Croatian cinema has combined a haunting, angry, often savagely-bleak outcry against political and personal repression with humor, lyricism and tenderness born of constant conflict and adversity. And while a great deal of attention has been focused on classic Czech, Polish and Hungarian cinema of the same period, relatively little attention has been paid to Croatia - a criminal oversight, since by any definition, directors such as Vatroslav Mimica (AN EVENT) and Krsto Papic (HANDCUFFS) belong on a short list of modern Central European masters.

In December, 2000, the American Cinematheque and CAMEO presented "Wednesdays In Croatia," the first comprehensive overview of Croatian cinema ever mounted on the West Coast. As a long-overdue follow-up to that series, "Cinema Croatia" focuses on the current generation of Croatian filmmakers, opening with director Branko Ivanda’s thrilling historical romance, THE HORSEMAN, about the conflict between Christians and Muslims during the mid-1700’s. Other new films include Antun Vrdoljak’s epic panorama of the partisan struggles during WWII, THE LONG DARK NIGHT, starring Goran Visnjic, and Branko Schmidt’s bittersweet 1960’s coming-of-age story, QUEEN OF THE NIGHT. The series also features several acknowledged classics of Croatian cinema, including France Stiglic’s THE NINTH CIRCLE, a shattering b&w drama about the romance between a Jewish girl and Christian boy during WWII; Vatroslav Mimica’s austere, brooding masterpiece AN EVENT, about a peasant farmer and his grandson hunted down like wild animals; Zvonimir Berkovic’s breathtaking chamber piece, RONDO; plus a selection of Children’s Animation, and much more!

To See the Dedicated Series Website Click here.

Saturday, April 2 - 5:00 PM

Los Angeles Premiere:

AN EVENT (DOGADAJ), 1969, Mozaik Film, 88 min. What starts out as a simple, earthy drama of a world-weary peasant farmer (Pavle Vujisic) and his grandson (Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, the director’s own son) traveling to market to sell their horse evolves quite suddenly into an almost unbearably tense portrait of the struggle to survive in the face of the very worst in human nature. On their way back home, farmer and grandson find themselves targeted by a pair of feral, wolf-like hunters (Fabijan Sovagovic, Boris Dvornik) out to steal the paltry fee made from selling the horse. This previously-unknown masterpiece from one of Croatia’s greatest directors, Vatroslav Mimica (KAJA, I’LL KILL YOU) packs the ferocious suspense of a classic Hitchcock film - not to be missed! Discussion following with producer Branko Lustig and actor Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. TBC

An Aero Theatre Exclusive!

Saturday, April 2 - 7:30 PM

Los Angeles Premiere:

THE LONG DARK NIGHT (DUGA MRACNA NOC), 2004, HRT/ Mediteran Film, 200 min. Dir. Antun Vrdoljak. Croatia’s official submission for the recent Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film, LONG DARK NIGHT is a sweeping, emotionally overwhelming portrait of an entire country caught in the devastation of WWII, and the irreversible changes wrought on one small village and its inhabitants. Heart-throb Goran Visnjic (SPARTACUS, "E.R.") delivers a stellar performance as Iva, a college student devoted to his family and friends, who finds himself forced to fight with the Communist partisans when war erupts in his homeland. Goran Navojec co-stars as Iva’s hellraising buddy, Mata, who winds up fighting on the opposite side with the Nazi-allied Ustasha troops. The tragic path followed by these two former best friends - both troubled by their respective choices, but determined to push forward to the end -- mirrors the complex and difficult transformation of Croatia itself in the 1940’s. Actor Goran Visnjic will introduce screening.

Daylight Savings Time Begins April 3! – Spring Forward To Be On Time!

Sunday, April 3 - 3:00 PM

Children’s Animation from Zagreb Film Studio / Croatia (approx. 55 min.) In four decades Zagreb Film produced 600 animated films that won more than 400 international awards. The studio quickly became world renown for a unique animation style that became known as "the Zagreb school." This is a collection of most acclaimed Zagreb Film shorts for children including Oscar winner Dusan Vukotic’s "Cow On The Moon", one of Zlatko Grgic’s gems "Little and Big" and the internationally known "Professor Balthazar" and "Little Flying Bears" series. A treat for animation fans of all ages and one hour of wonder for the kids!

An Aero Theatre Exclusive!

Sunday, April 3 - 5:00 PM

Double Feature:

RONDO, 1966, Jadran Films, 90 min. The screenwriter Zvonimir Berkovic made his debut as a director with RONDO, which remains his most important film and a classic of Croatian cinema. Every Sunday, the lonely bachelor and sophisticated judge Mladen (Stevo Zigon) comes to play chess with his friend, the sculptor Fedja (Relja Basic), and gradually he falls into an affair with the sculptor’s wife Neda (Milena Dravic.) The chess board is the center of the film, the moves mirroring the emotional developments of the characters. "I remain a frustrated musician entirely obsessed by the desire to use the film medium to obtain the perfection of musical compositional forms." - Director Zvonimir Berkovic.

HANDCUFFS (LISICE), 1969, Jadran Film, 75 min. In a small village in the sterile and rocky Karst region, a wedding procession is disturbed by the presence of two local executioners hunting Stalinist sympathizers. Like avenging angels, the executioners seize Andrija (Fabijan Sovagovic), a revered village leader, throwing the town into deadly confusion. A visually stunning, emotionally terrifying portrait of human brutality from one of Croatia’s foremost documentary directors, Krsto Papic, who achieved international reputation with this singularly amazing and unforgettable film.

An Aero Theatre Exclusive!

Wednesday, April 6 - 7:30 PM

60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

THE NINTH CIRCLE (DEVETI KRUG), 1960, Jadran Film ,107 min. Dir. France Stiglic. A classic of early 60’s Croatian cinema and nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, THE NINTH CIRCLE is a heartbreaking, inexorably powerful drama about the love affair between two young people - one a Christian and one a Jew - during the terrifying days of WW2. A hotheaded engineering student, Ivo (Boris Dvornik) agrees to an arranged marriage with a shy young Jewish girl, Ruth (Dusica Zegarac) at the urging of his parents, to protect her from the anti-Semitic violence sweeping through Croatia. Ivo thinks he can continue his own personal life with his long-time girlfriend on the side - but soon finds out, to his bitter regret, that a "wife," even in name only, is a complicated commitment. Slowly, his resentment of Ruth is replaced by a grudging acceptance, which grows inevitably into love - a love that can’t protect the two from the tragic and horrifying reality spreading all around them. This screening is dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

An Aero Theatre Exclusive!

Thursday, April 7 - 7:30 PM

Los Angeles Premieres – Double Bill:

A WONDERFUL NIGHT IN SPLIT (TA DIVNA SPLITSKA NOC), 2004, Alka Film, 100 min. Arsen-Anton Ostojic’s debut feature is constructed around three different stories, each with fatal consequences, that take place between 10 PM and midnight on a New Year’s Eve in the narrow streets and corridors of the medieval Ghetto of Split on the Adriatic Coast. Nick (Mladen Vulic), a smalltime drug dealer and Maria (Nives Ivankovic), a widow with her son; Maja (Marija Škaricic), a young junkie in a crisis and Franky (Coolio), a depressed American sailor; and Luke (Vicko Bilandzic) and Angela (Ivana Roscic), a pair of naive teenagers. Previously awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Sarajevo festival, A WONDERFUL NIGHT IN SPLIT introduces another talented Croatian filmmaker.

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (KRALJICA NOCI), 2001, 95 min. Osijek, Croatia, 1968. Long summer days watching boats on the river while old men get drunk in the local watering hole, and teenagers eye each other, get high on suspicious-looking "marijuana," and await with trepidation the upcoming visit of Marshal Tito to their little back-water village. Director Bronco Schmidt’s bittersweet memory piece has the lighthearted comic touch of early Milos Forman circa LOVES OF A BLONDE - but spiced up with a healthy dose of sex, sex and more sex. Lust is everywhere in this sleepy little town, from the nurses and doctor’s assistants in the hospital, to the pot-growing James Dean lookalike making it with the flirtatious Communist Party official sent to whip the place into shape before Tito arrives.

Director Arsen-Anton Ostajic (A WONDEFUL NIGHT IN SPLIT) will speak in between the screenings.