Dario Juričan (born 16 December 1976) is a Croatian film director, producer, and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. In 2019, he briefly changed his

legal name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ap ...

to Milan Bandić. Although he has written, directed and produced several fictional short films, he is best known for his feature documentary films ''Gazda'' and ''Gazda: Početak'', which examine Croatian businessmen Ivica Todorić and Miroslav Kutle.

Early life and education

Juričan was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, in 1976. He earned his bachelor's degree in

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

and German studies from the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

. Afterwards, he also earned his degree in filmmaking from the London Film Academy.

Film career

Juričan has been working as an independent film director and producer since 2003. He is a staff member of the Blank Film Incubator workshop in Zagreb. His 2010 short film ''Imaš ti neku priču?'' () was screened in the competition program of the 64th

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

. He was awarded for Best Screenplay at the 2012 Croatian Film Days for his film ''I, J, K, L''. In 2016, Juričan released his first

feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software item ...

documentary film ''Gazda'' () which focuses on Croatian businessman Ivica Todorić and his company

Agrokor Agrokor () was a conglomerate, largely centered in agribusiness, with headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. Founded in 1976 as a flower grower, it became a joint stock company in 1989, with 100 percent ownership held by founder Ivica Todorić. It grea ...

. In 2018, Juričan released a sequel to ''Gazda'', ''Gazda: Početak'' (). It examines the failures of transition, privatization, and the justice system in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The story revolves around Miroslav Kutle, one of the biggest

tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

s of the 1990s. Juričan plans to release a third part of The Gazda film series, ''Kumek'', which will focus on the

Mayor of Zagreb This article contains a list of people who have served as mayor of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, or president of the Zagreb Assembly. List See also *List of mayors in Croatia References External links Grad Zagreb - svi gradonačelnici ...

Milan Bandić Milan Bandić (22 November 1955 – 28 February 2021) was a Croatian politician and the longest-serving mayor of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Bandić was mayor almost continuously from 2000 to 2021, except during the time between his resignati ...

. A part of that plan was to legally change his own name to Milan Bandić. His request to change his name was later rejected by the Ministry of Public Administration, but this decision has since been revoked and he is allowed to be named Milan Bandić again.

Political career

On 18 September 2019, Juričan announced that he will run for president at the 2019 Croatian presidential election. In November, the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

approved his running under his legal name and overturned a previous decision of the Ministry of Public Administration that forbade him to use the name of the Zagreb mayor. On 3 December, he submitted some 13,000 signatures to the State Electoral Commission. On the election day (22 December), he recorded 87,882 votes or 4.61% of the total votes which made him 5th on the first round rankings and unsatisfactorily for the second round.

Filmography

''Source''

Fiction films

* ''Daša'' (2008);

Short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

* ''Školica'' (2008); Short film * ''Grand Prix'' (2009); Short film * ''U mojoj glavi anđeo'' (2009); Short film * ''Slikat ću ti rendgenom srce da svi vide da ga jebi ga nemaš'' (2010); Short film * ''Imaš ti neku priču?'' (2010); Short film * ''I, J, K, L'' (2011); Short film * ''Jednom bijah'' (2011; Short film * ''Slušaj kako puca staklo'' (2012); Short film * ''Bomba'' (2013); Short film

Documentaries

* ''Gradonačelnik Denis'' (2014); Short film * ''Gazda'' (2016) * ''Gazda: Početak'' (2018) * ''Kumek'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juričan, Dario 1976 births Living people Candidates for President of Croatia Croatian film directors Croatian film producers Croatian expatriates in England Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Film people from Zagreb Politicians from Zagreb