Jakov Sedlar

Jakov Sedlar
Born (1952-11-06) 6 November 1952 (age 71)
Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
(now Croatia)
NationalityCroatian
Occupation(s)fim director, film producer
Known forNationalist documentary films, Gospa, Jasenovac – The Truth
Spouses
  • Nina Er Grott
  • Almira Osmanović
ChildrenDominik, Marija and Emili Ema
Awards

Jakov Sedlar (born 6 November 1952) is a Croatian film director and producer. A former cultural attaché during the 1990s in the Franjo Tuđman government, his documentaries promote Croatian nationalist views through propaganda.[1][2] His 2016 documentary Jasenovac – The Truth sparked controversy and condemnation for downplaying and denying the crimes committed at the Jasenovac concentration camp by the Ustaše during World War II, instead focusing on crimes supposedly committed against Croats by communist Partisans at the camp following the war, while using alleged misinformation and forgeries to present its case, in addition to naming former and current Croatian officials, intellectuals, historians and journalists it dubs as "Yugoslav nationalists concealing the truth".[3]

Biography

Sedlar was born in Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia in 1952. In 1972, he moved to Zagreb, where he studied South Slavic languages, Western literature and philosophy at the University of Zagreb. After his graduation in 1977, he enrolled in the Academy of Dramatic Arts and studied theatre and film directing, graduating in 1981.

Sedlar was the Croatian Government's "official propagandist" during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, according to the historian Vjekoslav Perica.[4] Sedlar became known for films such as Gospa and Četverored, which portray the events of World War II and the Cold War from a Croatian nationalist perspective.[5] He also made a number of documentaries glorifying wartime President Franjo Tuđman and his party, the right-wing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). In an apparent bid to increase their credibility abroad, several were filmed in the English language, with actor Martin Sheen narrating.[2] In 1996, Tuđman persuaded him to accept the post of the first cultural attaché in the United States (New York), where he remained until 2000. During that time, he launched various projects and organized numerous events to promote Croatian culture. Joe Tripician, who was hired to write the official biography of Tuđman and co-directed the documentary Tudjman with Sedlar (though Tripician claims he barely worked on the film and was shocked when he saw his name on it),[6] describes Sedlar as the "Leni Riefenstahl of Croatia — but without the talent."[7]

After his return from the United States in 2000, the newly elected coalition government demoted Sedlar.

Controversies

See also: Jasenovac – istina § Controversy

Sedlar was criticized for nationalism and politicization in his films. On 4 April 2016, his documentary Jasenovac – The Truth premiered. The documentary is about the alleged crimes committed by the communist authorities of the FPR Yugoslavia in the Jasenovac concentration camp between 1945 and 1951 following the World War II, which, as claimed in the documentary, were covered up. The film also downplays and denies the extent of the Holocaust in the Independent State of Croatia, as well as the World War II-era genocide of Serbs, contending that the number of victims were exaggerated through post-war Yugoslavian communist propaganda. At the end of the documentary, Sedlar leaves the alleged communist crimes, moves to the modern era and mentions various leftists who allegedly "cover up communist crimes" (naming Presidents Stjepan Mesić and Ivo Josipović, and Serb MP Milorad Pupovac) as well as various journalists who allegedly help them (Miljenko Jergović, Jurica Pavičić, Ante Tomić, Davor Butković and others), which was considered tendentious and irrelevant to the theme of the documentary, as well as a way of labeling people he considered inadequate.[8] Slavko Goldstein said that the documentary was "full of half-truths, lies and forgeries", and that the end in which some public figures are named was a "direct arrest warrant and indictment against individuals."[9]

Vladimir Matijanić wrote for the Slobodna Dalmacija that the documentary "does not prove that after the liberation, the Partisans carried out mass executions of the prisoners, or that the Jasenovac concentration camp was solely a 'working and internment camp'" (as claimed in the documentary).[10] Another controversy connected to the documentary is the alleged title in the Vjesnik newspaper from 1945 stating that corpses tossed into the Sava were reaching Zagreb from the direction of Jasenovac. Shortly after the premiere, journalist Lovro Krnić went through the Zagreb state archives and examined all the May 1945 issues of Vjesnik and found that no such headline existed. Upon closer inspection, Krnić discovered that the headline seen in the documentary had been crudely doctored, likely using Photoshop.[11] Attorney Veljko Miljević stated that Sedlar could end up in prison due to charges of falsification, denial of crime and hate speech against politicians and journalists.[12]

In April 2017, the Simon Wiesenthal Center sent a letter to the Zagreb City Council it had received from Robert Rozett, the director of the Yad Vashem libraries.[13] In it, Rozett apparently noted that having the films in the Visual Center is in no way an endorsement of their content. The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged the Zagreb City Council to deny Sedlar an award from the city, which was partially based on his films being available through Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem's apparent distancing from Sedlar did not deter him from continuing to use this example to legitimize the historic value of his work.[14]

In 2000, a police investigation was launched into several criminal offenses allegedly perpetrated by Sedlar. In an influential magazine, Nacional, Sedlar was described as "a publicly denounced forger, fraudster, manipulator and financial broker".[15] In 2004, he was charged with evasion of prolonged parking ticket fines worth approximately HRK30,000 at the time (≈US$5,000).[16] In 2018, Australia annulled his previously issued visa.[17]

Filmography

Feature films

Year Title Notes
1988 U sredini mojih dana (1988)
1995 Gospa
1996 Don't Forget Me
1998 Agonija
Remembrance of Georgia
1999 File of Four
2003 Mercy of the Sea co-directed with Dominik Sedlar
2018 Duhovi
2021 The Match co-directed with Dominik Sedlar
2022 The Conversation
2024 260 Days

Docudramas

Year Film Director Writer Notes
2004 Syndrome Jerusalem Yes Yes
2009 Café Auschwitz Yes No

Selected documentaries

Year Film Director Writer Notes
1984 Međugorje, Gospi u pohode Yes No
1987 Lijepa naša Yes No
Jeste li bili u Zagrebu, gospodine Lumiere Yes No
1988 U srednih mojih dana Yes No
1989 Hrvatski Božić Yes No Video
1991 Jugoslavenska armija i srpski teroristi Yes No Video
Krvavi Uskrs Yes No Video
Pomozite Hrvatskoj Yes No Video
Srpski vidovi smrti Yes No Video
Stepinac - znak vremena Yes No Video
1992 Nepoznati dio Holokausta, Srbija 1941-1945 Yes No
1993 Trinaest stoljeca hrvatske kulture Yes No Video
1996 Mozart of Basketball Yes No
1997 Tuđman – hrvatski George Washington Yes No
1999 To je put Yes No
2002 Brač, Dalmacija, Hrvatska Yes No
Sudbina mi nije dala da odem Yes No
2005 Yudith Yes No Short
Kad mrtvi glasuju Yes No
2006 Nema više heroja Yes No Short
Hrvatska Ljubavi moja Yes No
Petnaest do osam Yes No
Searching for Orson Yes No
2007 Mayim, Mayim Yes No
2009 Hrvatske katedrale Yes No
Ruža Pospiš-Baldani Yes No
Gotovina, pisma iz Haga Yes No
Ante Pavelić bez maske Yes No
2010 Tito bez maske Yes No
Pravednik Stepinac Yes No
Yulia Yes No
2011 Caffe Auschwitz Yes No
Bitka za Dajlu Yes No
Hrvati i njihovi franjevci u USA i Canadi Yes No
Hrvati i Srbi, povijest jedne averzije Yes No
2012 Ljubav koja ne poznaje granica Yes No Short
Tko želi ubiti Juliju Timošenko Yes No
2014 Julija, ona koja se nikada ne predaje Yes No Short
Anne Frank: Then and Now Yes No
2016 Jasenovac – The Truth Yes No
The Righteous Gypsy Yes No Short
Nisam se bojao umrijeti Yes No
Requiem for the World Yes No
2017 Adel i Mara Yes No
Snaga tišine Yes No
Svetac, zločinac i dvorske lude Yes No
2019 3069 Yes Yes
Zagrljaj sudbine Yes No

References

  1. ^ Perica 2002, p. 121 & 172.
  2. ^ a b Fisher 2006, p. 112.
  3. ^ Milekic, Sven (21 April 2017). "Dishonour for Zagreb Over 'Alternative Facts' About Holocaust". BalkanInsight. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  4. ^ Perica 2002, p. 121.
  5. ^ Perica 2002, p. 172.
  6. ^ Milekic, Sven (3 May 2017). "Propaganda Trip: Why Franjo Tudjman's Biographer Rebelled". BalkanInsight.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  7. ^ Tripician, Joe (25 February 2016). "Balkanized at Sunrise". Medium.com.
  8. ^ "Split: Prikazan dokumentarni film "Jasenovac-istina" Jakova Sedlara". www.nacional.hr (in Croatian). 7 April 2016.
  9. ^ Pavliša, Mija (5 April 2016). "Goldstein: Sedlarov film 'Jasenovac - istina' pun je poluistina, laži i falsifikata". tportal.hr (in Croatian).
  10. ^ Matijanić, Vladimir (6 April 2016). "U Splitu prikazan". slobodnadalmacija.hr (in Croatian).
  11. ^ "OTKRIVAMO - JASENOVAC-FOTOŠOPIRANA ISTINA: Sedlarov udarni argument o plivanju leševa uzvodno je loša montaža". Lupiga (in Croatian).
  12. ^ "Jakov Sedlar bi zbog filma 'Jasenovac – istina' mogao u zatvor" (in Croatian). Telegram. 18 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Wiesenthal Center Urges Zagreb City Council to Deny Award to Croatian Film Director Sedlar". WiesenthalCenter. 18 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Židovska općina negoduje jer HRT prikazuje Sedlarov film o Mossadovom agentu" (in Croatian). TPortal. 10 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Višestruki prevarant Sedlar dolazi za šefa drame HNK Split – Nacional.hr". nacional.hr (in Croatian). 22 July 2003.
  16. ^ "Sedlarovi "olakšali" Importanne Galeriju za 30.000 kuna?". index.hr (in Croatian). 1 September 2004.
  17. ^ "Evo što australska ambasada kaže o odbijanju vize neonacistu Bujancu". index.hr. 23 November 2018.

Sources