{{Short description|Croatian film director (1923–2020)}} {{Infobox person | name = Vatroslav Mimica | image = Vatroslav Mimica.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1923|6|25}} | birth_place = Omiš, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2020|2|15|1923|6|25}} | death_place = Zagreb, Croatia | years_active = 1952–1981 | occupation = Director, writer | spouse = Giovanna Gezzan | awards = | children = Sergio }} '''Vatroslav Mimica''' (25 June 1923 – 15 February 2020) was a Croatian film director and screenwriter.
== Early life == Born in Omiš, Mimica had enrolled at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine before the outbreak of World War II. In 1942 he joined Young Communist League of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) and in 1943 he went on to join the Yugoslav Partisans, becoming a member of their medical units.<ref name="kinoeye">{{cite news|url=http://www.kinoeye.org/01/05/horton05.php|title=Kinoeye - Croatian film: Vatroslav Mimica interviewed|last=Horton|first=Andrew James|date=29 October 2001|publisher=Kinoeye.com|access-date=18 May 2010}}</ref>
== Career == After the war Mimica wrote literary and film reviews, and his career in filmmaking began in 1950 when he became the director of the Jadran Film production studio.<ref name="filmhr">{{cite web|url=http://www.film.hr/bazafilm_ljud.php?ljud_id=250|title=FILM.HR ::: Vatroslav Mimica|publisher=Film.hr|language=hr|access-date=18 May 2010|archive-date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606225430/http://www.film.hr/bazafilm_ljud.php?ljud_id=250|url-status=dead}}</ref>
=== Animation === He had his directorial and screenwriting debut in the 1952 Yugoslav film ''In the Storm'' (Croatian: ''U oluji'') which starred Veljko Bulajić, Mia Oremović and Antun Nalis.<ref name="imdb">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0590791/|title=Vatroslav Mimica|work=Internet Movie Database|access-date=18 May 2010}}</ref> In the 1950s Mimica worked as a director and writer on a number of critically acclaimed animated films and became a prominent member of the Zagreb School of Animated Films (his 1958 animated short film ''The Loner'' (''Samac'') was awarded the Venice Grand Prix), along with authors such as Vlado Kristl and Academy Award-winning Dušan Vukotić. In 1963 he directed ''Typhoid Sufferers'' (''Tifusari''), a short experimental film based on Jure Kaštelan's poem of the same title.
=== Feature film === In the 1960s Mimica moved away from animation (his last animated film was 1971 film ''The Firemen'' (''Vatrogasci'')) and turned to directing feature films, starting with the 1961 Yugoslav-Italian film ''Suleiman the Conqueror'' (Italian: ''Solimano il conquistatore'') starring Edmund Purdom and Giorgia Moll.<ref name="filmhr"/> His 1965 film ''Prometheus of the Island'' (''Prometej s otoka Viševice'') won the Big Golden Arena for Best Film at the 1965 Pula Film Festival and earned Mimica a runner-up Silver Arena award for Best Director.<ref name="filmhr"/> It was also entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival winning a Special Diploma.<ref name="Moscow1965">{{cite web |url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1965 |title=4th Moscow International Film Festival (1965) |access-date=2012-12-06 |work=MIFF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116145645/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1965 |archive-date=2013-01-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The following year his 1966 film ''Monday or Tuesday'' (''Ponedjeljak ili utorak'') also won the Big Golden Arena for Best Film and Mimica won the Golden Arena for Best Director.
Mimica made several other films through the 1970s, most notably the period films ''Anno Domini 1573 (Peasant revolt of 1573)'' - ''Seljačka buna 1573.'' in Croatian - depicting the 16th century Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt, and ''The Falcon'' (''Banović Strahinja''), set in 14th century Serbia, before retiring from filmmaking in 1981.<ref name="kinoeye"/>
== Personal life == His son Sergio Mimica-Gezzan is an American film and television director.{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}
== Filmography == *''The Jubilee of Mr Ikel'' (''Jubilej gospodina Ikla'', 1955) *''Suleiman the Conqueror'' (''Solimano il conquistatore'', 1961) *''Prometheus of the Island'' (''Prometej s otoka Viševice'', 1964) *''Monday or Tuesday'' (''Ponedjeljak ili utorak'', 1966) *''Kaya'' (''Kaja, ubit ću te!'', 1967) *''An Event'' (''Događaj'', 1969) *''The Fed One'' (''Hranjenik'', 1970) *''The Macedonian Part of Hell'' (''Makedonskiot del od pekolot'', 1971)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172762/|title = Makedonskiot del od pekolot|website = IMDb}}</ref> *''Anno Domini 1573'' (''Seljačka buna 1573'', 1975) *''The Last Mission of Demolitions Man Cloud'' (''Posljednji podvig diverzanta Oblaka'', 1978) *''The Falcon'' (''Banović Strahinja'', 1981)
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{IMDb name|id=0590791}} *[http://www.kinoeye.org/01/05/horton05.php Interview with Vatroslav Mimica] at Kinoeye.com *[http://www.filmski-programi.hr/baza_redatelj.php?id=29 Vatroslav Mimica biography] at Filmski-Programi.hr {{in lang|hr}}
{{Golden Arena for Best Director}} {{Golden Arena for Best Screenplay}} {{Vladimir Nazor Award for Life Achievement (film)}} {{Vatroslav Mimica}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mimica, Vatroslav}} Category:1923 births Category:2020 deaths Category:20th-century Croatian writers Category:Croatian animated film directors Category:Croatian film directors Category:Croatian screenwriters Category:Golden Arena for Best Director winners Category:Omiš Category:Vladimir Nazor Award winners Category:Yugoslav film directors