EXHIBITIONS
TOŠO DABAC: BAROQUE SCENE OF MARIJA CRNOBORI
Valli Cinema
Uspon na Kaštel 1
16. srpnja – 16. kolovoza 2021.
Opening: Friday, 16 July 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Author
Autor: Daniel Rafaelić
Organisers:
Public Institution Pula Film Festival and Cultural and Information Centre Zagreb
Sponsor:
City of Zagreb and Tošo Dabac Archive – Museum of Contemporary Art
After a year of political pressure, Oktavijan Miletić finally agreed to make a film for the new Independent State of Croatia in 1942. He decided, however, to protest against the regime as an artist, and the theme of his film, instead of the imposed propaganda-racist matrix and Prussian spirit, is a short episode of the Oršić family from the 18th century, with a focus on its Habsburg past. By making it in the form of kulturfilm, and with the screenplay by Josip Horvath, he named the film Baroque in Croatia.
During filming in the castles of the Zagorje region and the church in Belec as a masterpiece of baroque architecture, Miletić was shadowed by the legendary Croatian photographer Tošo Dabac. The result was a collection of as many as 127 negatives that have not been previously exhibited, and which follow each of the phases of making the film that represented the Independent State of Croatia at the Venice Film Festival that same year, in 1942. It received very poor reviews – mostly due to its length (45 minutes). At the Zagreb premiere in early 1943, it was shortened to today’s length of 12 minutes. Although the original version of the film has been lost, Dabac’s photographs shine a light on the lost sequences.
Along with the greats names of Croatian theatre such as Tito Strozzi, Milica Mihičić, Anja Roje and Oskar Harmoš, Marija Crnnobori also shone in the film. Her film debut brought a fresh and talented presence, and has literally made the camera and photo lenses of Oktavijan Miletić and Tošo Dabac cherish her.
With a continuous screening of the film Baroque in Croatia, the exhibition TOŠO DABAC: BAROQUE SCENE OF MARIJA CRNOBORI will show for the first time a selection of 22 most representative portraits of Marija Crnobori that Tošo Dabac has made during filming. They are witness to the beginnings of first professional domestic filmmaking, but also the successful artistic resistance to the political darkness.
Schedule
- Valli Cinema, Uspon na Kaštel 1
Opening: Friday, 16 July 2021, 7:30 p.m.
