Antun Vrdoljak (born 4 June 1931) is a Croatian screenwriter, film director and former actor and political appointee.
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Antun Vrdoljak was born in Imotski, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Republic of Croatia). He studied acting at the Academy of Drama Arts at the University of Zagreb. His acting debut was in 1957 film Nije bilo uzalud. One year later he receive great deal of attention with his portrayal of simple country youth in H-8. In late 1960s, Vrdoljak gradually switched to film directing.
Following the events of the Croatian Spring (1968–71), Vrdoljak became associated with Croatian nationalism. Authorities nevertheless allowed him to continue with his career. This included lavish adaptations of Croatian literary classics such as Kiklop (1982) and Glembajevi (1988).
When first democratic elections were announced in Croatia, Vrdoljak was among 200 top intellectuals publicly endorsing the moderate Coalition of People's Accord. By the end of campaign, he switched his support for the more hardline Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Franjo Tuđman with whom he developed a close friendship.
On 30 May 1990 the new democratically elected Croatian Parliament convened and Franjo Tuđman was elected President of Croatia. Vrdoljak became one of country's six vice-presidents. As such, he was entrusted with the supervision of 1990 European Championships in Athletics in Split, which was supposed to be the first big test for new government. There Vrdoljak reportedly displayed authoritarian tendencies, but also good organisational abilities, making a good impression on the international sports officials that would later help him become member of International Olympic Committee.
In December 1990 new Croatian Constitution was adopted, ending the office of vice-president. A few months later Vrdoljak was appointed to the post of general manager of Croatian Radiotelevision (HRTV). There, Vrdoljak helped promote Tuđman and the HDZ, working very hard to prevent any criticism of government in the programme, while Croatian opposition parties were ignored. Vrdoljak garnered a degree of notoriety for saying television "must become a cathedral of the Croatian spirit".[1]
Vrdoljak left HRTV in January 1995. His successor, Ivan Parać, charged Vrdoljak with corruption.[2] To the opposition, Vrdoljak had been the embodiment of HDZ domination of the electronic media.[2] Although Vrdoljak maintained his Parlament seat and other positions, he gradually retired from politics and Tuđman's inner circle.
After the HDZ lost power on 2000 elections, Vrdoljak decided to return to filmmaking. Vrdoljak made news in 2006 due to a quarrel and a physical altercation with his fellow filmmaker, Lordan Zafranović.[3]
He began his career as an actor and was praised for his role in now classic 1958 film H-8 directed by Nikola Tanhofer. He received a great deal of praise for his two early films as a director and screenwriter, Kad čuješ zvona (When You Hear the Bells, 1969) and U gori raste zelen bor (A Green Pine Tree grows on the Mountain, 1971). Both films were based on the diaries of Croatian Partisan leader Ivan Šibl.
Vrdoljak also worked on television, with his 1972 mini-series Prosjaci i sinovi, based on the script (and later the novel) by Ivan Raos, later receiving a cult status. The series was shown only in 1984, due to Raos' status as a "Croatian nationalist".
He garnered further favorable attention for his adaptations of two literary classics in the 1980s, Kiklop (from the novel by Ranko Marinković, 1982) and Glembajevi (from the play by Miroslav Krleža, 1988). Both movies also were broadcasted in its longer TV versions. After securing funding from new government, he directed Duga mračna noć (The Long Dark Night), a mini-series about World War II in Slavonia.
At the 1960 Pula Film Festival, the Yugoslav equivalent of Oscars, he won a Golden Arena for his role in Veljko Bulajić's nuclear holocaust film Rat (known in the USA as Atomic War Bride).
Vrdoljak was married twice and has four children. He is also the father-in-law of Croatian actor Goran Višnjić, who is married to Ivana Vrdoljak.
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| Preceded by Post established |
President of the Croatian Olympic Committee 1991–2000 |
Succeeded by Zdravko Hebel |
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