Branko Istvancic
Film and TV director

Branko Istvancic was born in Subotica. Graduated film and TV direction in 1999 at Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Making his first, documentary films on 8 mm camera at 15 with his first Hungarian film teacher Zoltan Siflis from Subotica, he has continuously been involved with documentary films and has received Croatian as well as international rewards for his work - The Grand Prix at Croatian Short and Documentary Film Festival, "Oktavijan" award for the best documentary and "Zlatna Uljanica" Golden Oil-lamp award being among them. His student short fiction Saying Goodbye / Rastanak was included in the New Direction programme of The First Film Foundation in London, a selection of six outstanding films by promising European directors. Deeply enrooted in the Croatian documentary tradition, he pays special attention to the humane, but also humoristic, treatment of his subjects. His successfully film, Wellman / Bunarman (2003), continues this tradition, and elevates the simple story about a well digger to a level of the universal metaphor, but without the pretentious nature of many Croatian documentaries. The critics consider his film The Cormorant Scarecrow / Plasitelj Kormorana (1998) to be one of the best Croatian documentaries of the nineties. His debut The Ghost in the Swamp was a domestic box-office hit and has been chosen to mark the comeback of feature-length films for children which have not been made by the Croatian film industry for the last twenty years. He is member of Croatian Film Director's Guild.

Biografia (Italiano)

Nato nel 1967 a Subotica, si laurea nel 1999 in regia cinematografica e televisiva presso l'Accademia di Arte Drammatica di Zagabria. Profondamente radicato nella tradizione documentaristica croata, nei suoi lavori tratta i temi che affronta con ironia e sguardo umano. Il suo documentario Wellman (2003),ne e la prova evidente. I critici considerano il suo filmThe Cormorant Scarecrow (1998) uno dei migliori documentari croati degli anni novanta. Dal 2003 lavora stabilmente per la televisione nazionale croata, nella regia di documentari, serie di educativi programmi e fiction.

Biographie (Francais)

Né en 1967 à Subotica. Diplômé en réalisation pour le cinéma et la télévision en 1999 de l'Académie d'arts dramatiques de Zagreb. Il a tourné ses premiers films documentaires à l'âge de 15 ans. Profondément enraciné dans la tradition documentaire croate, il s'intéresse de près à ce qui est humain, mais aussi humoristique, dans le traitement de ses sujets. Son dernier documentaire à succès, Wellman in 2003, s'inscrit dans cette tradition. La critique considère The Cormorant Scarecrow (1998) comme l'un des meilleurs documentaires croates des années 1990. En 2006, il réalise son premier long métrage The Ghost in the Swamp.

Biografia (Germany)

Geboren 1967 in Subotica, Voivodina, Serbien. Absolvent der Filmhochschule ADU in Zagreb, wo er 1999 sein Examen in Film und Fernsehregie abiegte. Arbeitet seit 2003 kontinuierlich für das kroatische Landesfernsehen HRT. Mitglied des kroatischen Regieverbands.

Biografia (Magyarul)

Született: Szabadka, 1967. Film és TV rendezés, 1999-ben szerzett diplomát a zágrábi Drámai Művészeti Akadémián. Első dokumentumfilmjeit 15 évesen 8mm-re készítette tanárja a szabadkai Siflis Zoltán volt, azóta is dokumentumfilmekkel foglalkozik, számos Horvát és nemzetközi díj nyertese - (The Grand Prix, Croatian Short and Documentary Film Festival, "Oktavijan", "Zlatna Uljanica"). A Szabadka-Zombor-Vinkovci vonalon forgalmistaként dolgozott. A Horvát Televíziónál dokumentumfilmeket, ismeretterjesztő műsorokat és sorozatokat rendez. A kormoránok ijesztgetői,
1998 című munkáját a 90-es évek legjobb dokumentumfilmjei közé választották.