Separating the art from its creator is an unlikely proposition in the case of Aleksandar F. Stasenko (1933–1990), an archetypal loner figure of Croatian cinema and one of its best-kept secrets. Born in the Dalmatian town of Split as the son of a Ukrainian immigrant, Stasenko graduated in electrical engineering and made eleven 8mm films as a devoted amateur between 1965 and 1970. In 1970 he took a plunge, sacrificing a promising university career to become a professional filmmaker. Until his untimely death, he wrote, directed, and edited 11 more shorts – eight documentaries and three narrative films – working mostly in and around his hometown and staying true to his highly idiosyncratic vision, both in terms of style and subject matter. A firm proponent of the extreme closeup and a master of expressive editing, Stasenko consistently kept his focus on solitary, resolute individuals waging their battles in silence, typically surrounded by unforgiving landscapes. Deriving visual poetry from harsh realism, his films can be seen as paeans to human perseverance, permeated with nostalgia for the disappearing Mediterranean of old. This programme brings together three highlights from the first decade of Stasenko’s filmmaking, digitised and restored in several projects as part of a wider campaign towards his rediscovery. The most acclaimed film of his amateur phase, Pogled u sumrak, is Stasenko’s poignant portrayal of his father’s final days, revealing him to be a fully formed auteur even before entering professional cinema. Miting u Odjelu IV F, his first professional work (and his only film to employ spoken dialogue), is an inspired take on the confrontational group therapy that alcoholics underwent in Yugoslavia at the time. Put is the film that most perfectly encapsulates all the elements of Stasenko’s oeuvre. It follows a group of relatives who spent seven years building a stone road to a mountain hamlet where their elders lived.

Vjeran Pavlinić