About publishing

The growth and diversification of publishing activities were driven by a chronic lack of foundational and other literature on film at a time when film studies were being institutionalized and new university departments and faculties for performing and audiovisual arts were being established. At the same time, the domestic film industry was undergoing restructuring and gaining new momentum. A significant impetus also came from the need to (re)evaluate Croatian film heritage, with a particular focus on alternative cinema, for which the Croatian Film Association has long served as the primary caretaker and promoter.

Today, HFS is the only Croatian publisher specialized in film literature, with a publishing program that includes: translations of important and canonized works of film theory; historical and theoretical studies by domestic film scholars and theorists; collections of essays and reviews by Croatian film critics and publicists; monographs on notable Croatian filmmakers; memoirs by film authors; screenwriting and dramatic works; manuals and professional literature on various areas of film and related media; monographic catalogues of prominent film clubs; DVD editions featuring selections of anthology short and feature films; and more.

Among its publications are works considered pioneering in their respective fields, such as Irena Paulus’s studies on film music, Midhat Ajanović’s essays on animated film, Ilija Barišić’s filmological study on video games, and books on alternative filmmakers that have significantly advanced the study of Croatian avant-garde film heritage. The publishing house is equally open to established film studies veterans and new writers or experts who explore previously unexamined topics in domestic or global film studies, or who offer new interpretations of films and film history.