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Hvar on the Film Screen
Zorka Bibić
orcid.org/0000-0002-2234-9612
Abstract
There have been produced over some 90 movies since the first saved amateur film by Maximilian Paspa in1932, either as part or full editions of movies or documentary works. According to available data titles in the national archives as well as in some foreign ones, mostly of German origin, we can come to conclusion of high percentage probability that there are more films in view to be found on the island territory, but it is up to some future investigations to discover the location of the shooting and whether the titles are well preserved or not.
More than 40 foreign productions were filmed in Dalmatia in the pre-Second World War times. Hvar has been the chosen location by two documentarists and representatives of the Culture Film: Urlich Shulz (The sea Creatures in the Adriatic bays and fjords of South Dalmatia) released in 1934, and two blockbusters :“The Princess of the Corals“ and „The Impossible Mr Pitt“, both filmed in Hvar. Exteriors for both films were done in 1937 and daily newspapers Novo doba (New Times) have been reporting about it in great details.
The local pre-war creations mostly comprised short documentaries. In the period we are dealing with, we are speaking of Ćiro Gamulin, so far the first known Hvar film amateur who has made the first island Hvar mosaic film „Jelsa photo painting“ (1939-1941) as his personal view of life and people of his time.
Following the Second World War home film industry was gradually developing. Most films had become part of the „collective memory“ and local people from the island have been taking roles of secondary importance or as extra walk-ins regardless of their previous experience in acting. Films done by Obrad Gluščević, the man who has had personal bonds with island of Hvar are prized as of anthological value i.e. the drama „Our Small Place“ and other documentary achievements wherein the local population was either the topic of the story or have been taking part in acting the story.
Though the land territory has been exploited many a time as substitute for other nameless locations, the scenes and sites are still attractive to the contemporary audience. According to the available literature, cinema was mentioned to be first in Stari Grad in1916. It is only in the period after the Second World War that film projections have been available on regular basis to people throughout the island.
At the paper footnote one can find the listing of all, so far known, movies or film documentaries realized either completely or partly on the island of Hvar. Our aim is to set foundations for the further more detailed research work to give a chance to a contemporary audience to have insight to the past live pictures of the island via interesting home and foreign film productions of capturing titles.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
241277
URI
Publication date:
9.10.2019.
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