Hrvatski filmski ljetopis, broj 26 (2001) - Hrvatski filmski savez

ABSTRACTS
Abstracts on Collaborators
UDC: 791.44.071.1(497.5) Dovnikovi} B.
791.43-252(497.5)
Petar Krelja
Stylistic Coherence of Dovnikovi}’s
Opus
Borivoj Dovnikovi}-Bordo had quite an interesting and
unusual artistic development. He left his native town of
Osijek to pursue his dream and become a cartoonist. He
began his career in the weekly satiric magazine Kerempuh
and this work eventually introduced him into the world of
animation through the project The Big Meeting that he
worked on as animator and assistant. Ever since he has
remained in the world of animation, that is to say, for five
decades, with only one interruption when he shortly
returned to his first calling — cartoons. Thus he participated
in all the evolutionary phases of the Zagreb School of
Animated film.
For the first eleven years he mostly collaborated on other
authors’ projects. Only after many years of practice in animation
did he in 1961 come out with his debut film Dolly.
Since then until 1995 a number of other works followed
creating an impressive author’s opus that certainly made
him one the most significant and unavoidable protagonists
of the Zagreb School of Animated film.
The author of the text chose eleven films — Dolly (1961),
Untitled (1964), Curiosity (1966), Krek (1967), Manoeuvres
(1971), Second class passenger (1973), J. D. (1976), The
School of Walking (1978), One Day in Life (1982), Two
Lives (1984), An Exciting Love Story (1989) — which he
analyses in order to reveal the basis of Dovnikovi}’s poetics.
The author establishes that Dovnikovi} was influenced by
Disney, newspaper cartoons and comics, and on these
grounds he created his most important works.
While refusing to accept that characters are one-dimensional
or simple geometric shapes karyokinetically multiplied,
Dovnikovi} accepts the functionality of a simplified, only
slightly coloured surface. He does not hide the fact that his
heroes draw roots from cartoons. Caricature free of sarcasm
or bombastic and spectacular gags is a permanent characteristic
of his work. His works always include a well-known
nice hero of a rather bland appearance, a man from the
fringes of society constantly struggling with repressive
’eager’ individuals or some global destructive forces always
hovering over him.
200
Hrvatski filmski ljetopis 26/2001.
Although the fact that the Zagreb school’s potentials were
never fully realized, that some of its authors quickly gave up
on animation (Mimica, Bourek, Marks, [talter...), while others
died rather young (Grgi}, Kostelac, Vukoti}, Zaninovi},
Vunak) discouraged Borivoj Dovnikovi}, he nevertheless
managed to keep his place on the Croatian and world scene
of animation — as one of the greatest — owing to his personal
vitality and the obvious resilience of his opus that with
time became only more impressive and coherent.
UDC: 791.43:7.025
791.43:681.3
Mato Kukuljica
New Electronic Technologies —
Help in the Restoration of Film
Material
Film art has more than any other art marked the 20th century,
however it is in grave danger of being completely lost
or destroyed. The data about the destruction of film stock
are terrifying. 90% of all the stock from the pioneering period
of cinematography (made before 1910) is lost forever,
along with 50% of the film stock made after the appearance
of sound film (1927) and 50% of all the material made after
the replacement of nitrate based film tape with a secure film
tape with acetate base (in the period from 1950 till 1954).
The efforts of film archivists to restore and preserve the
existing material are only partially successful since they are
encountering many problems, starting with technological
limitations, problems of storage, lack of competent workers
and institutions, specialised laboratories and finally, lack of
financing. We have to add that each film needs to be
restored two, three or four times during the lifetime of an
archivist. In the domain of classical film storage, they are
trying to produce a more stable film tape and to ensure storage
conditions that would prolong the life of film stock for
additional 30-50 years, but even such solutions have their
limitations. Film technologies and researchers estimate that
in the course of next 20-30 years another 50% of presently
preserved film stock will be lost forever due to untimely
protection of nitrate film footage, the spreading of vinegar
syndrome on film material with celluloid base, while a part
of film stock will be lost due to colour fading and deterio-