Mladen Juran


Mladen Juran is a Croatian film director, screenwriter and actor.
Juran was born in Zagreb. He graduated from high school in Split in 1960. After obtaining a diploma from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb in 1964, he went to Paris, where he graduated from the Dramatic Arts College Charles Dullin at Théâtre National Populaire. During his study, he performed as an actor and worked with the theater, television and film, assisting directors Michael Cacoyannis, Abel Gance and Med Hondo. In 1967 he worked in Paris as an intern for Lee Strasberg, director of the Actors Studio.
After his return to Croatia, Juran started a career at the national television. Since 1973, he created more than 200 films and television series of various genres.
Juran's 18-minute short film Transatlantic - described as a "surrealist depiction of tragic fate of the Croatian emigrant" - received high acclaim, and has been listed among the best Croatian short films ever. Both before and after making the short film, Juran was trying to make a feature film with the same subject, but hints to political emigration were not seen as welcome, and Juran's idea was realized only after the fall of communism. The feature film of the same name, made in 1998, was also well-received, and was Croatia's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film that year.
Juran's 1982 documentary about the early history of Croatian cinematography, The Living Photographs has been credited with establishing a new perspective on the history of film in Croatia and influencing the education of future Croatian filmmakers and film scholars.

Selected filmography

Feature films