CULTURAL POLICY
The Imaginary Academy in Grožnjan, Istria
A review of four years of activity of the
Imaginary Academy — a summer film school in Istria, Croatia.
The development of the Imaginary Academy has surprised its
own creators. The summer film school in the small town of
Grožnjan in Istria, Croatia, was established by Rajko Grlić,
Vjeran Zuppa and Nenad Puhovski, respectively representing
the founding institutions of Ohio University, The Center
for Dramatic Art, and The Academy of Dramatic Art. It was
instituted in 1995, in depressing times, with the war still
going on. Its basis was a simple aim: the wish that some
young Croatian filmmakers be faced with some US experience
in conceiving a script according to marketing standards in
order to improve the weak script situation in Croatia.
The
teachers were Lewis Hunter and Yvette Biro. When the first
generation of students produced several outstanding scripts,
the topic of next year’s summer school was clear: how to
prepare an independent production of a movie according
to a script. The leading teachers were Bob Nickson and
Lisa Bruce from the independent production company Orenda
Films. The third year topic was — production itself. A
workshop of documentary film, well equipped with professional
video and film technology, produced four short documentary
films about Istrian topics. That year (1997) the school
moved into a building of its own, with lecture rooms, a
projection hall and good electronic equipment. An international
theatrical workshop — on dance dramaturgy — joined in as
well. The fourth year topic was multimedia. The students
succeeded in producing a CD ROM about Istrian architecture’s
particularities. The theatrical workshop topic was the
Lee Strasberg method of acting. At first conceived only
for Croatian students, as a kind of additional undergraduate
education, the Imaginary Academy became international,
and more akin postgraduate study, gathering students, professors
and classes around particular projects, achieving high
coordination and efficiency all in a two week course.
Martina Aničić |
