HRVATSKA JE ARHITEKTURA PRVORAZREDNI IZVOZNI ARTIKL

Leo Modrcin, americki arhitekt podrijetlom iz Kraljevice, u povodu otvorenja kazališne zgrade 59E59 Theaters u New Yorku

Arhitekt Leo Modrcin, podrijetlom iz Kraljevice, autor je pocetkom ove godine otvorenog kazališta 59E59 u New Yorku. Modrcin je završio Arhitektonski fakultet u Zagrebu i Pratt Institute u Brooklynu, a danas radi u njujorškom ťUred ArchitectureŤ.
Zgrada 59E59 Theaters izgradena je na inicijativu fondacije Elysabeth Kleinhans. U kakvom se okruženju taj objekt nalazi i kakvi su zahtjevi bili postavljeni pred arhitekta?
– Zgrada je rezultat vizije gospode Kleinhans koja je iskoristila prodaju povijesnog hotela Delmonico iz zbirke istaknutih ikona njujorške arhitekture u vlasništvu svoje obitelji. Prilikom prodaje glavne zgrade hotela, mali postojeci objekt koji je bio fuzioniran s velikom zgradom ponovno je razdvojen i cijelim nizom složenih transakcija osloboden za izgradnju neprofitnog centra za kazališnu umjetnost u najstrožem komercijalnom središtu grada.
Kazališta u New Yorku, takoder i ona komercijalna na Broadwayu, nisu prepoznatljiva svojom arhitekturom vec svjetlosnim znakovima, dok su ona za avangardni teatar obicno skrivena u improviziranim prostorima u više boemskim, ťkreativnimŤ dijelovima grada. Ovim projektom gospoda Kleinhans objedinjuje svoje veliko iskustvo u upravljanju nekretninama sa strašcu i bavljenjem kazališnom umjetnošcu, te tako zapravo mijenja kazališne navike grada i uvodi kazalište u novi teritorij. S njom sam suradivao na nizu preinaka u hotelu i na projektu rezidencije u Centralnom parku, te sam tako stekao njeno povjerenje i za projekt kazališta.

Bliski kontakt gledatelja i glumaca

Možete li u kratkim crtama opisati projekt? Što ovaj kazališni centar nudi posjetiteljima?
– Kompleks sadrži tri scenska prostora ciji je kapacitet odreden pravilima glumackog sindikata koji regulira honorare glumaca i obveze producenata prema velicini auditorija. Glavno kazalište ima 199 sjedala i spada u off-Broadway kategoriju. Ova dvorana zauzima tri razine zgrade tako da je gledalište istovremeno i intimno, jer omogucuje bliski kontakt gledalaca i glumaca, ali je i monumentalno zbog visoke pozornice i strmog gledališta koje omogucuje izvrsne linije gledanja. Na višem katu su dvije manje dvorane, jedna fleksibilna s 99 sjedala na teleskopskoj tribini te manja dvorana s 50 sjedala. Glavni javni prostor zgrade otvoreno je predvorje sa stubištem koje povezuje svih pet razina, a priljubljeno je uz samu staklenu fasadu zgrade tako da se posjetitelji doimaju poput izvodaca unutar animirane fasade.
Kakvi su danas opcenito trendovi u izgradnji/obnovi kazališnih zgrada?
– Kazališta nisu u današnje vrijeme centralni sadržaj kojim se izražavaju aspiracije pojedinih gradova ili država, kao što je to slucaj s muzejima suvremene umjetnosti ili cak ťpreživjelimŤ koncertnim dvoranama ili knjižnicama, a koje postaju surogati otvorenih javnih prostora. Cini se da se i kazališna umjetnost stoga koristi iskustvima drugih popularnijih, i ako se može tako reci, relevantnijih formi kulture i zabave da bi privukla pažnju. Izgleda da se to trenutno dogada i u Rijeci, a korisno je da se grad probudi iz zimskoga sna i postane receptivan i za avangardne pomake.
Ono pravo, eksperimentalno kazalište, gdje se ocekuju iskoraci u teatarskoj formi, na neki se nacin povuklo u anonimnost svoga scenskog prostora, i da bi ponovno bilo relevantno vraca se svojim prapocecima, a to su rijec i izvedba glumca. Drugi suvremeni mediji poput internet arta, filma i video umjetnosti, plesa i performansa oduzeli su kazalištu važnost kao medij vizualne magije, koja je još osamdesetih godina prošlog stoljeca inspirirala eksperimente Roberta Wilsona i Roberta Lapagea. Današnja arhitektura kazališta oslobodena je koncepta mašine za izvedbe i projekcije, koji je bio temeljem modernistickih eksperimenata kazališne arhitekture, kao što su neizvedeni projekti naših arhitekata Strižica, Turine, ruskih konstruktivistickih projekata i bauhausovskih primjera Gropiusa ili Mehanickog kazališta americkog arhitekta Johna Johansena u šezdesetim godima.


Naseljena kazališna zavjesa

U mojem projektu sve tri kazališne dvorane neutralne su crne kutije, projektirane po strogim propisima za sigurnost, udobnost i promatranje predstava, uz vrhunsku tehnicku opremu za produkcije. Arhitektonski napor koncentriran je na zajednicke, vanjske prostore predvorja, na ulicnom platnu zgrade, na kojem je stubište integrirano u staklenu zavjesu procelja. Vokabular arhitektonskih elemenata i materijala bliži je ulicnoj arhitekturi svojstvenoj New Yorku, sa svojim celicnim stepeništima obješenim na proceljima, pa cak i podzemnoj željeznici, nego tradicionalnom poimanju reprezentativnog teatra.
Kazališna zgrada tako postaje dio urbanog eksterijera, novi javni prostor bliži po svojoj tektonici Downtownu Manhattana nego svom neposrednom uzvišenom okruženju na 59-toj ulici, uz sam Centralni park. Materijali su svedeni na elementarni, nezašticeni celik, aluminijske rešetkaste stepenice, uglacani beton i stropove od drvenih dasaka koje u ovom slucaju znace toplinu. Sami posjetitelji penjanjem i spuštanjem po transparentnom stubištu postaju sudionici u dramaticnom urbanom ritualu u kojemu se ispreplece odnos promatraca i promatranih.
Na neki su nacin tradicionalni elementi kazališne arhitekture, poput proscenija, scenskog tornja s mostovima i dizalima za scenografiju i rasvjetu izvuceni iz svog konteksta te premješteni na svjetlo dana. Staklena fasada kazališta 59E59 tako se može shvatiti kao naseljena kazališna zavjesa satkana od trostruko laminiranog, ťtradicionalnogŤ žicanog stakla, poput zaslona katodne cijevi kroz koju se posjetitelji krecu poput Duchampove gole dame koja se spušta stepenicama.
Želim vjerovati i da su na izbor arhitektonskih elemenata utjecali i maritimni elementi s kojima sam odrastao, kraj brodogradilišta u kojem su porinuca brodova bila središnja uzbudenja djetinstva. Ja sam ipak unuk brodskog tesara te unuk i sin pomorskih kapetana, ciji me je utjecaj i doveo, doduše zrakoplovom, u New York.

Hrvatska veza

U kojoj je mjeri investitor utjecao na realizaciju projekta?
– Uloga gospode Kleinhans bila je kljucna. Ona je bila idealni investitor: od direktnog utjecaja na proces izgradnje i koordinacije s izvodacima, do neposredne suradnje s mojim uredom u donošenju projektantskih odluka. Po samoj prirodi zadatka, kazalište zahtijeva cijeli tim strucnjaka – od teatarskog konzaltinga, akustike, kontrole klime, složene zakonske regulative po kojoj je New York poznat i tako dalje.
Buduci da je ovaj zadatak bio veliki iskorak u mojoj profesionalnoj praksi, pojacao sam se snažnim timom sastavljenim od deset vrhunskih njujorških tvrtki. Moj ťUred ArchitectureŤ bio je nositelj projekta, u tandemu s arhitektonskom tvrtkom Franke Gottsegen Cox. Konzultantski tim predvodio je istaknuti inženjer Guy Nordenson, koji suraduje s vodecim svjetskim arhitektima, a trenutno se po njegovom projektu projektira Toranj slobode na ruševinama WTC-a.
Izvodaci su bili kljucni za ovako složeni posao, a zanimljivo je spomenuti da je uz glavnog izvodaca, tvrtku Yorke, glavni doprinos gradnji dala i vodeca njujorška tvrtka za arhitektonsku bravariju i ostakljenje Aval, u vlasništvu Vlade Blaškovica, uspješnog poslovnog covjeka podrijetlom iz Labina. Hrvatsku vezu u projektu zaokružuje tvrtka IP Group, projektant instalacija zgrade koju vodi iTorpedo bih dodijelio Palachu
Možete li navesti neke inozemne primjere ocuvanja industrijske baštine?
– New York je pun primjera transformacije cijele industrijske infrastrukture i, iako je mjerilo neusporedivo, ima mnoge slicnosti s Rijekom. Nastao je kao luka ulaza i ljudi i roba u americki kontinent, jedan prototipski otvoreni grad. Sva su lucka postrojenja pretvorena ili se još pretvaraju u javne sadržaje, a industrijske su cetvrti sustavno kolonizirane od urbanih pionira u stalnoj potrazi za jeftinijim prostorom za život i rad. To su obicno kreativni tipovi, umjetnici, galeristi, hackeri kojima se isplati da sami ugrade instalacije, vodu, struju, kanalizaciju, samo da bi živjeli u fleksibilnom radnom prostoru. Nakon nekoliko godina zakonitosti tržišta ih potjeraju, neki se usput i obogate, a zatim se preseljavaju u nove, još neosvojene cetvrti. U rijeckim okolnostima, ja bih Torpedo dodijelio Palachu i za deset bi godina cijeli potez luke postao Montmartre s novim Muzejom suvremene umjetnosti i ostatkom kompleksa Rikarda Bencica kao sidrom.
Zanimljiv je i primjer razvojne organizacije Artspace Project iz Minnessote (www.artspaceusa.org). To je neprofitna investicijska banka koja svoja sredstva ulaže u obnovu napuštenih industrijskih, skladišnih i trgovackih zgrada, koje daje na korištenje za rad i stanovanje umjetnika uz subvencionirane stanarine. Njih slijede kafici, knjižare, trgovine, imucni ljudi koji žele živjeti u takvom susjedstvu. Model se pokazao izuzetno uspješnim. U našim okolnostima zapravo vec imamo prototip takve sprege javne i tržišne investicijske suradnje, a to je POS, koji bi trebalo proširiti za transformaciju industrijske arhitekture upravo po ovom modelu.

Inženjer Ivan Pollak iz Zagreba.
Kakve su bile reakcije kad je 59E59 otvoren i kakav je sad život tog prostora?
– Glavna dvorana kazališta otvorena je sredinom veljace s praizvedbom dvije jednocinke Terrenca McNallyja, pod zajednickim nazivom ťStendhalov sindromŤ, a u produkciji trupe Primary Stages, koja ce biti i glavni stanar kompleksa. Zvijezde predstave su Isabella Rossellini, kojoj je ovo prvo pojavljivanje na kazališnim daskama u New Yorku, i Richard Thomas, veliki televizijski star koji je ovom ulogom dokazao da je vrhunski kazališni glumac.
Bolji start kazališta nije se mogao ocekivati. Predstava je dobila jako pozitivne kritike i produžena je dodatnim izvedbana, a i samo kazalište spomenuto je kao dobrodošla premijera. Zanimljivo ce biti vidjeti da li jedan ovako mali projekt može izazvati odjek i u arhitektonskoj strucnoj javnosti, u doba kad se New York bavi puno vecim, kapitalnim i emotivno važnim projektima.
Kako su sad završene i ostale dvorane, u travnju pocinje ambiciozni festival nove britanske drame, izbor najzanimljivijih kazališnih ostvarenja s edinburškog Festivala Fringe. Moram spomenuti da je Elysabeth Kleinhans prošlo ljeto posjetila i Hrvatsku, u kratkoj izvidackoj turi, pa se lako može zamisliti i gostovanje našeg teatra u New Yorku. Još nisam imao prilike posjetiti rijecki Festival malih scena, ali možda cu to moci uciniti u mom kazalištu!?

Novi most i stare uspomene

Godine 1996. osvojili ste prvu nagradu na natjecaju Membrane Design Competition u Japanu za konceptualni projekt razorenog Starog mosta u Mostaru. Obnovljeni most nedavno je otvoren. Kakvo je vaše mišljenje o njegovom sadašnjem izgledu? Je li vaša vizija bila drugacija?
– Natjecajni projekt nastao je u kraljevickom Frankopanu, u ljeto te godine, iako je ideja postojala odmah nakon samog rušenja pred 11 godina. Projekt je most zamijenio svojom slikom, ili barem digitalnim zaslonom još neostvarene tehnologije. Slika je zamijenila most dok se on ne izgradi. Poslije mi je palo na pamet da bi taj digitalni plašt mogao funkcionirati i nakon obnove, i to tako da se na njemu projicira CNN-ov video zapis samog granatiranja, kao vjecni podsjetnik da se takvo što ne ponovi. Okolnosti oko toga rada bile su potpuno paradoksalne, i osobno i šire.
Njegovo objavljivanje služilo je kao svojevrsna katarza za još svježe rane, tragediju koja je na neki nacin moj vlastiti rad zauvijek obilježila u pozitivnom smjeru. Iako je sad most popravljen, krivci se privode pravdi, a Hrvatska je potpuno ťinŤ kao turisticka destinacija, u ovoj sredini, kao doduše i kod nas, tragovi i percepcije o ratu još su prisutni. Obnovljeni most nisam vidio i mogu zamisliti da je izvrstan, a iskreno cijenim strucni i gradevinski napor koji je bio potreban da se most obnovi. Medutim, i pismeno sam se obavezao u eseju koji prati studentske radove s urbanog dizajna sveucilišta Columbija posvecenom Mostaru, da necu posjetiti grad dok ne zažive osnovne pretpostavke tih studentskih projekata, koje, kako možete zamisliti, nikako ne ukljucuju pojam podijeljenog grada.
Dugujem to i jednoj izvanrednoj generaciji mladih i kreativnih Mostaraca s obje strane Neretve s kojima se srecem u New Yorku, koji su uspjeli tragediju urbicida i svoje izgnanstvo pretvoriti u vlastiti kreativni napor. Ovakav stav možda samo odražava nemoc arhitekture da bitno utjece na život, jer se pravi mostovi moraju obnoviti tek u glavama ljudi. Ipak, moramo vjerovati da je uloga arhitekture da isprovocira uvijek nove oblike humanizma. Do novog, ujedinjenog urbaniteta Mostara, novi ce kamen posivjeti pa ce tek tada biti zanimljivo usporediti novi Stari most s uspomenama..

Tretman zemlje ťtreceg svijetaŤ

Pretpostavljam da su vam poznati i pokušaji oko ocuvanja i revitalizacije rijecke industrijske arhitekture. Kako biste valorizirali taj segment?
– Iako je New York vec osamnaest godina glavna baza moga djelovanja, trudim se biti dijelom hrvatske arhitektonske scene – kroz projekte, natjecaje, kriticke napise o arhitekturi, i to ne samo zbog obiteljskih, emocionalnih razloga, vec i kreativnih i poslovnih.
Hrvatsku u ovom trenutku doživljavam kao zemlju izvanrednih prilika, a hrvatsku arhitekturu kao jednu od najvibrantnijih arhitektonskih kultura, kojoj je u Europi možda jedino ravna Nizozemska. Cak se i Kina kao ekonomski stroj svijeta okrece uvozu arhitekture, za razliku od nas koji imamo izuzetnu autohtonu arhitekturu, a koja je oduvijek u komunikaciji s ostatkom svijeta.
Rezultati te kvalitete pomalo se prepoznaju i držim da je naša arhitektura prvorazredni izvozni artikl, a domace joj je tržište potpuno premalo. A sve to uz tranzicijske porodajne muke, tradicionalnu arhitektonsku edukaciju koju uvijek želimo unaprijediti. Tu malo ťsolim pametŤ, ali mi moja pozicija ťni tu ni tamoŤ to omogucava. Radim to ponajviše iz respekta prema ovoj sredini koju tek možete dijagnosticirati kad se od nje malo odmaknete.
Zato me i razocarava kad vidim da si dopuštamo tretman zemlje ťtreceg svijetaŤ, i to za kratkorocni i zapravo sitni profit. Umjesto da doživljavamo Rijeku kao Miami, odakle bijela flota krece u mediteranske Karibe, a imamo i svoj South Beach u glamuroznoj Opatiji, mi gradimo lucka postrojenja usred grada i nadamo se da cemo nadoknaditi propušteno u odnosu na ostale luke na sjevernom Jadranu.
Umjesto da reduciramo preradu nafte, mi cemo je preradivati i za treca tržišta, i u tih trideset godina koliko još traju rezerve uništiti jedine resurse koje imamo, a to su obala i ljudi. Da ne govorimo o apsurdnosti naftovoda, koji zbog potreba dnevne geostrategije postaje tempirana bomba koja prije ili kasnije može uništiti cijelu sjevernu obalu Jadrana, ako ništa drugo po zakonu vjerojatnosti i po sve jacim burama. Drugi, pametniji gradovi, na vrijeme su se riješili prljavih postrojenja i revitalizirali industrijske dijelove pretvorivši ih u najelitnije dijelove grada. Rijecka industrijska i lucka postrojenja najveci su kapital koji grad ima, no bojim se da ce se stvari dok ne zaživi tržište nekretnina još dogadati dekretom i uzrokovati nepopravljive greške.

Spasiti lucka skladišta

Kakav je, konkretno, vaš stav o povijesnim rijeckim luckim skladištima, od kojih su neka predvidena za rušenje? Postoji li takva praksa i u svijetu ili se ondje drugacije odnose prema svojoj graditeljskoj baštini?
– Sam New York se teško opekao u sedamdesetim godima kada je srušena prekrasna stara željeznicka stanica Pennsylvanija, a peroni zakopani pod zemlju ispod Madison Square Gardena, a sve na racun progresa. No to je izazvalo strahovitu pobunu javnosti i pokret za zaštitu spomenika roden je kao reakcija. Sada su svaka povijesno ili ambijentalno vrijedna zgrada, cetvrt ili pak interijer zašticeni, i to tako da se prije svake, pa i najmanje preinake, mora prvo dobiti odobrenje Povjerenstva za povijesno naslijede.
Na greškama se uci, pa se nova moderna stanica slicnih prostornih kvaliteta rekonstruira nasuprot stare lokacije. Neka sjecanja se ne mogu izbrisati iz memorije grada i neshvatljivo je da mi opet ponavljamo greške jednog manje demokraticnog doba ili da pak svjesno dozvoljavamo rušenje objekata koje nikad necemo moci nadoknaditi, a unaprijed znamo da griješimo.
Što je najbolje, postoji potpuna sukladnost mišljenja u strucnoj javnosti za spašavanje luckih skladišta pod vodstvom arhitekata poput Nane Palinic ili Hrvoja Giaconija, koji je kao talentirani projektant prava osoba za brigu i transformaciju povijesnog naslijeda. No dojam je, ovako iz daljine, da forumi na kojima se odlucuje nemaju sluha za ono što se strucnjacima cini kao zdravi razum.
To mi je narocito žao zbog izvanredne arhitektonske tradicije Rijeke koja je dala velike prilike svojim arhitektima, od samih pocetaka kako je to monumentalno dokumentirano izložbama i knjigama pod vodstvom Berislava Valušeka, do samih modernih i postmodernih majstora poput Kucana i Emilija, te Borisa Magaša koji je uz antologijski stadion u Poljudu i Rijeku obilježio svojim izgradenim i neizgradenim djelima, pa do tranzicijskih neimara Idisa Turata i Saše Randica koji usred Rijeke operiraju na potpuno svjetskoj razini, a Randic sad i doslovno vodi cijelu hrvatsku arhitekturu kao aktivisticki predsjednik strukovne organizacije. Lista se nastavlja do Silvija Novaka, rijecke podružnice Studija 3LHD zaslužnog za projekt Mosta hrvatskih branitelja koji je svrstao Rijeku medu najavangardnije gradove na svijetu, do Zoke Skorup odnosno Zoke Zole cija je kuca u Chicagu pobrala vrhunske nagrade za stambenu arhitekturu u SAD-u, arhitektice Sonje Miculinic u Ljubljani, pa sve do arhitektonskog novaka Petra Miškovica koji je upravo podijelio Veliku nagradu Zagrebackog salona za projekt preinake rijeckog Muzeja Nevena Šegvica, a osim toga je sa suradnicima izgradio jedan od najistaknutijih projekata POS-a u Đakovu.
Lista se nastavlja jer Rijeka je sa svojim kozmopolitizmom uvijek bila rasadnikom vrhunske arhitekture. Osim toga ima vrhunsku službu za urbano planiranje, a oduvijek je, s iznimkom nesretnog a genijalnog Josipa Picmana, bila otvorena i za kvalitetne došljake. U takvom je okruženju neshvatljivo da se grad gura u jednu preživjelu urbanu realnost koja ce ga paralizirati za barem jednu generaciju. Osim ako i mi arhitekti sami ne doprinosimo porivu da se sve treba isplanirati kroz kampanju ili sljedecu olimpijadu, da jedini pristup gradu treba biti neka utopija za koju unaprijed znamo da se nece ostvariti. Grad možda najbolje živi ako se u njega nitko odozgo ne miješa, ako se stvari jednostavno dogode dišpetom pojedinacnih interesa, poput one stare disko-olupine na rivi koja je više pridonijela obnovi urbane Rijeke nego sve banke svijeta.
Kim CUCULIC

http://www.novilist.hr/Default.asp?WCI=Rubrike&WCU=285A28602863285B2863285A28582858

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Glass Theater Curtain in Manhattan, by Leo Modrcin

59 East 59th Street, Manhattan , New York

59E59 Theaters building, designed by Croatian-born and New York-based architect Leo Modrcin, has been recently completed on East 59th Street in Manhattan, between Park and Madison Avenues. The main theater opened on February 15th, 2004, with Isabella Rossellini and Richard Thomas starring in “The Stendhal Syndrome”, a new play by Terrence McNally. The complex has 3 performing spaces, including the main 199-seat theater that features a soaring triple height space and intimately proportioned relationship between the stage and the audience, as well as two other theaters with 99 and 50 seats respectively.

The building was envisioned by Elysabeth Kleinhans, the president and artistic director of the Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation. The project is the first significant built project by Modrcin’s office Ured Architecture and has transformed a non-descript commercial building into a preeminent performing arts facility in the heart of Midtown. Its street facade is a glazed curtain of metal and laminated wire glass that announces the theatrical events hidden inside. The audience members reach the theaters through the multileveled stairway and lobby behind the glass curtain, and thus themselves become animated performers seen from the 59th Street.

Leo Modrcin is the principal of Ured Architecture in New York, and is also present with his work in Croatia. A residential project designed by Modrcin in Kraljevica is scheduled for completion in 2004.

59E59 Theaters building’s innovative curtain wall facade was constructed byAval Architectural Metals Corporation. Vlado Val Blaskovic, the principal of the leading architectural metals firm in New York is a distinguished benefactor for Croatian causes in New York. Also of Croatian origins is Ivan Pollak, the principal of the consulting firm IP Group, responsible for the building systems.

Links: www.ured.org ,www.59E59.org 

Contact for Leo Modrcin: info@ured.org
 

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Creators of custom made architectural metal and glass designs.
Among the best in the New York Metropolitan area.

Established in March of 1984, A-Val Architectural Metal Corp. started with three employees and one truck. We now operate with more than fifty employees and twelve trucks to provide you with high quality professional service. A-Val Architectural Metal Corp. started in the storefront business, but has since evolved into one of the largest most respected architectural metal and glass companies in the Tri-State area. We specialize in, but are not limited to custom railings, lobby entrances, curtainwalls, interior metal and glasswork, custom storefronts and canopies. All ornamental metal and glass projects receive the same attention to detail no matter the size. Whether your project is bronze, stainless steel, aluminum or all glass, you can count on A-Val to work closely with your design build team to optimize quality as well as economy.

Our office staff includes in-house engineering/drafting department with AutoCAD capabilities, project managers to see your project through and administrative personnel to insure proper flow of paperwork.

Call Today
A-Val Architectural Metal Corporation
15-06 129th St., College Point, NY 11356
Phone: 718 539 2391
Fax: 718 353 1316
E-mail us: val@a-val.com
website: www.a-val.com
God Bless America

Editor's Note:

Val Blaskovic deserves another page in category People as well as Charity on CROWN. His contribution and style in which he does that, is among the best of us. His heart is as big as Manhattan (Big Apple). Always giving and never bragging. People see this and appreciate your kindness and generosity. Hvala !

Nenad Bach

Some of our clients:

A.J. Contracting
Alexander Wolf & Son
Americon
Ammirati Puris Lintas
Anchor Construction
Atco Construction Corp.
Barr & Barr
Boston Properties
Builders Group
Cauldwell Wingate
CDS Mestol Construction
Citibank
Citiscape Construction
Compusite Turnkey Construction
Core Construction
Crow Jones Construction
Designers Fore Ltd.
Donna Karen
Dorff Construction
Duce Contracting
Emmis Communications
Estee Lauder
Estee Lauder Store Des.
Excel Interiors
Gabe Construction
George Hillenbrand Associates
GM Services
H.M. Hughes
Helmsley - Spear, Inc.
Hennegan
Hines Property Management
HJ Kalikow & Co. LLC
HLW Services
Humphreys & Harding
IBM
Icon Interiors
IDI Construction
J.T. Magen & Company Inc.
Jaeger
James E. Fitzgerald
James G. Kennedy
Jar Construction
JCS Design Associates
John A. Grillo Architects
John F. Davie Construction
Justin Management
Kajaro Management
Kasper Ast. Ltd.
Kotier Construction
Lehr Construction
Lehrer McGovern Bovis
Lincoln Building Associates
Manda Corp.
Matura & Sons
MBI Construction
McHugh DiVincent Alessi
Mendik Reality Company Inc.
Morse Diesel
Nine West
NTX Interiors
Oat Construction Corp.
Oestreicher Construction
Orsid Realty
Pavarini Construction
Peter Marino & Associate Architects
Plaza Construction
R.P. Brennan
Rectenwald Brothers
RFC Construction
Richter & Ratner
Rudin Management
Sciame Construction
Selby Construction Inc.
Skyline Construction
SPK/Lewis Construction
Starwood Lodging
Structure Tone
The Vanderbilt Group
Trebor Management
Tri-M Construction
Tri-Star Construction
Turner Interiors
ULM II Holding Corp.
Vanguard Construction
Vertical Club
W & W Construction
West Contracting
Whitestone Construction
Whitney Museum of Art
Yorke Construction
York-Hunter
Zaffulo Construction

 

Bozidar Benc - Helped Develop Palm Pilot
1958-2004

The following sorty appeared on the palminfocenter.com webstine concerning Bozidar Benc (misspelled in the title as Bodizar), one of the software developers for Palm Pilot. A profile concerning Benc can be found athttp://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issuesprint/issue200105/profile.html

Benc lived in Slavonski Brod. John Kraljic
****************************************************************

In Memory: Bodizar Benc
Posted By: PIC on Thursday, March 25, 2004 10:05:19 AM
One of the first and well known Palm OS developer, Bodizar Benc, has recently passed away.

The news was posted on a messageboard, "It's with the greatest of regret that I pass on the sad news that Bozidar Benc passed away yesterday. As some of you may know he was involved in a serious car accident in early February. Hopes were high for a full recovery, but unfortunately his condition worsened and finally he succumbed to complications caused by the original injuries."
Bozidar was 47 and is survived by his wife and two daughters. He lived in a small town east of Zagreb in Croatia. There is more about him in a recent interview.
Bozidar was one of the original developers of Palm shareware. He has influenced a large number of current Palm OS developers and his titles were held in very high regard. He's best known for his suite of pop-up tools, LauncherIII and more recently LauncherX.

For those who would like to send a note or contribution to Mrs. Benc in memory of her husband, the address is:

Mrs. Bozidar Benc
Benc Software Production
Kosarevac 52
35000 Slavonski Brod,
CROATIA

Editor's Note:

How come that we didn't know of him when he was alive? The reason of CROWN existence is to find those precious pearls and put them on the necklace. Bozidar was 47 years old and belonged to the team that developed one of the most significant software today and where were we? And at the last meeting of Croatian community of larger New York I proposed Palm software as a base software for our community data base.

Nenad Bach

Novi broj - New issue of Croatian Chronicle

Dragi prijatelji CROWNA,

Obavjestavamo vas da je u prodaji najnoviji broj Croatian Chronicla- Hrvatske kronike, koji i ovoga puta donosi obilje informacija i priloga iz zivota hrvatskih zajednica diljem Amerike!

U novom broju citajte:

-Eksluzivni razgovor s Borisom Miksicem, americkim Hrvatom koji se kandidira za predsjednika Republike Hrvatske
-Hrvatski premijer Ivo Sanader stize u posjet Sjedinjenim Americkim Drzavama
-Predstavljamo: Dr. Hedvig Hricak – uspjesna hrvatska lijecnica, sefica radiologije u Memorial Sloan –Kettering Cancer Centru u New Yorku
-Radenko Fanuka; autor knjigeReflections: Personalizing Life, Nature, Man and God
koja se od 28. ozujka prodaje u knjizarama Barns & Noble
-Chicago-14. godisnji banket Hrvatsko americkog udruzenja (CAA) u slici i rijeci
-New York- U susret petom Hrvatskom festivalu djece i mladih- donosimo sve o Festivalu kao i finalni popis svih pjesama i izvodaca
-Washington- Dundo Maroje progovorio engleski
-Zoran Planinic, #10 New Jersey Nets; Dolazak u NBA isplatio se profesionalno i financijski!
-Hrvatski restorani; Terrace in the Sky- Romanticni ugodaj uz vrhunsku hranu i jedinstven pogled na New York City!

Sve to i jos mnogo vise procitajte u najnovijem izdanju Hrvatske kronike!

Cijeloj americkoj hrvatskoj zajednici zahvaljujemo na podrsci i suradnji, kao i na odlicnom prijemu koji Hrvatska kronika postize diljem Amerike!
Saljite nam i dalje vase priloge, sugestije, pisma i poruke !

CROATIAN CHRONICLE
HRVATSKA KRONIKA
Tel: 718 278-5760 Fax: 718 228-4311 info@croatianchronicle.com
P.O. BOX 3531 Astoria, NY 11103

Pretplatite se na svoje hrvatske novine, budite djelom informirane i povezane zajednice!

Novina se moze nabaviti i na slijedecim lokacijama:

Podrucje New Yorka:
- Crkva sv. Cirila i Metoda na Manhatannu, crkva The Most Precious Blood u Astoriji, te crkva St. John the Baptist u Fairview, NJ nakon nedjeljnih misa
- Ducani Adriatic Meat, Gaspar's Deli, te u kioscima s etnickom stampom u Astoriji
- Dubrovnik Deli u Fairview, New Jersey

Podrucje LA i San Pedra:
- Nakon hrvatske mise u Mary Star of the Sea
- Croatian Hall (Hrvatskom domu), te agencijama i ducanima Libertas Travel, Mc Cowan’s Supermarket, South Shores Meat Market, Sunshine Market

Podrucje Chicaga:
- Nakon nedjeljnih misa u crkvama St. Jerome i Bl. Aloysius Stepinac
- Croatian Cultural Center of Chicago

Podrucje Clevelanda:
- Mandica Giftshop – Croatian National Home Cardinal Stepinac

St. Louis:
- ducanu Kaya’s Imports.

The latest issue of Croatian Chronicle has been published
 

Dear CROWN friends,

The latest issue of Croatian Chronicle has been published, bringing you stories and articles abut the life of Croatian communities across North America.

In the new issue you can find the following:

- An exclusive interview with Boris Miksic, Croatian-American candidate for the president of Croatia
- article about Croatian premier’s Ivo Sanader’s March visit to the US
- Interview with Dr. Hedvig Hricak, a successful Croatian-American female doctor, and the head of radiology department at Memorial Sloan –Kettering Cancer Centaru in New York
- article about Radenko Fanuka's book Reflections: Personalizing Life, Nature, Man and God available in Barnes & Noble
- report and pictures from the CAA annual banquet in Chicago
- story about the fifth Croatian Children and Youth Festival and the final list of songs and performers
- article on the Dundo Maroje performance in Washington, DC
- interview with Zoran Planicic, #10 New Jersey Nets
- restaurant review: Terrace in the Sky – romantic atmosphere and superb food with the best view of New York

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire Croatian-American community for their support and cooperation, as well as the excellent response the newspaper has received all over the continent.

Please continue to send us your letters, suggestions, articles and stories!

CROATIAN CHRONICLE
HRVATSKA KRONIKA
Tel: 718 278-5760 Fax: 718 228-4311 info@croatianchronicle.com
P.O. BOX 3531 Astoria, NY 11103

Subscribe to your paper, Croatian Chronicle, and become a part of an informed community!

The newspaper can also be purchased at the following locations:

New York area:
- After the Sunday masses at the churches of Sts Cyril and Mathodious in Manhattan, The Most Precious Blood in Astoria, and St. John the Baptist in Fairview, NJ
- Adriatic Meat, Gaspar's Deli, and stands selling ethnic newspapers in Astoria
- Dubrovnik Deli in Fairview, NJ

LA and San Pedro area:
- After the Sunday masses at Mary Star of the Sea church
- The following shops and businesses in San Pedro: Croatian Hall (Hrvatski dom), Libertas Travel, Mc Cowan’s Supermarket, South Shores Meat Market, Sunshine Market

Chicago area:
- After the Sunday masses at St. Jerome i Bl. Aloysius Stepinac
- Croatian Cultural Center of Chicago

Podrucje area:
- Mandica Giftshop – Croatian National Home Cardinal Stepinac

St. Louis:
- Kaya’s Imports

Ante B. Sikic brought family from Croatia

Insurance actuary was 84
By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MOUNT AIRY - In May 1945, Ante B. Sikic fled his home in Croatia just ahead of Tito's Communist army. After driving to Austria that day and sleeping in the car that night, he headed into the Alps to seek refuge with the English.

It was the beginning of a path that would lead to Cincinnati, where Mr. Sikic - who held a Ph.D. in philosophy and mathematics from the University of Graz in Austria - lived happily for 48 years.

Mr. Sikic died March 6 of heart failure at Mercy Franciscan Mount Airy. The Mount Airy resident was 84.

A Catholic, he was a student at the University of Zagreb in Croatia when he left the city with an uncle who was a government official when they realized the Communists would soon take over. After spending the summer in a refugee camp in the mountains, Mr. Sikic went to the University of Graz seeking admission.

He had left Croatia with his transcript from the University of Zagreb under his shirt and produced it for examination by the officials at Graz. They allowed him to enter the Ph.D. program. He paid the tuition by selling cigarettes from a large box he had received as a gift from a Croatian friend.

Mr. Sikic found out that his girlfriend, Fedora, who had also left Croatia, was in Trieste, Italy. After exchanging letters, they decided to marry. The problem was that neither had papers that allowed them to cross the Austrian-Italian border legally. Undaunted, Mr. Sikic hiked across the Alps into Italy, married Fedora and walked back across with her into Austria.

They made their home there and she helped with his dissertation. He graduated in 1947 and two years later - with a son and another child on the way - Mr. Sikic decided to remove his family from the chaos of post-war Europe. He registered with a refugee immigration organization.

"He agreed to perform manual labor in any English-speaking country that could provide his family with a free, peaceful life," said his daughter, Yasna Sikic Hood of College Hill.

They moved to Adelaide, Australia, where Mr. Sikic learned the carpentry trade and taught himself English. He was a carpenter in Australia for eight years, but longed to work as a mathematician. So in 1956, he moved his wife and three children to Cincinnati, where he was an actuary for the Union Central Life Insurance Co. for 28 years.

He took the oath of allegiance and became a naturalized citizen in 1962.

"Becoming an American citizen was one of the proudest moments of his life," his daughter said. "His adopted country provided a wonderful and successful life for his family."

Mr. Sikic was a member of Little Flower Parish for 46 years.

"He maintained an undying love for his homeland of Croatia and visited there every summer for the past 20 years," his daughter said.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife; two sons, Branimir of Stanford, Calif., and Adrian of College Hill; and eight grandchildren.

The funeral has been held. Burial was at Spring Grove Cemetery.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/03/24/loc_o.sikic.html
 

Martinolich Shipyards in America

Just saw on your Web that a young lady just discovered her Martinolich Roots. Here are a few of her cousins from
Mississippi, Washington and British Columbia, Canada. The first Martinolich's came in the 1860's; they were
successful shipbuilders and sea captains..

Adam S. Eterovich

Martinolich Shipyards

MARTINOLICH, JOHN A. Shipbuilder: The history of the Puget Sound would be incomplete without the story of the
Croatians who purchased land and made Dockton, Washington a town on Maury Island, their home. Among them was John
A. Martinolich, who was born in Mali Losinj, Dalmatia, Croatia and came to this country in 1893. Martinolich came
from a line of shipbuilders who had practiced their trade along the Dalmatian Coast of the Adriatic. He had
emigrated first to Canada, where he was employed at the Vancouver Shipyards Ltd. under Watts. He was not only a
skilled craftsman but also had considerable knowledge and ability as a ship designer." In June, 1909, the drydock
of the Puget Sound Drydock Company, for which the town of Dockton was named, was gone. But Dockton was by no means
ready to become a ghost town. Her greatest days were yet to come. Many of the former drydock workers stayed on and
embarked on enterprises of their own. Among them were Martinolich and John Bussanich, who was a blacksmith. This
hardy citizenry of fishermen and drydock workers liked their community too much to leave. They soon established a
thriving economy, even surpassing the drydock era. Martinolich operated his shipbuilding business at several
locations in Dockton in the early years. In 1904, he signed a contract to build the Vashon, which was the first of
many well-known "mosquito fleet" steamers to be built in Dockton. Next he built the 142-ton, 113-foot steamer, the
Verona. After building these, Martinolich had kept busy building purse seiners and other fishing boats for
Dockton’s growing fleet of fishermen. John Martinolich had often been credited with the development of the West
Coast purse seiner. His long, deep draft hulls became the classic pattern for the engine-driven fishing fleet that
was to dominate the fishing grounds of the Northwest and Southeastern Alaska for the next fifty years. Many of
those early purse seiners are still in use.
As the larger shipyards in Seattle and elsewhere became mobilized for the war effort in 1916, opportunities arose
for small, independent operators, and Martinolich obtained a contract from the Norwegian government for three
large wooden sailing schooners. All three were 235-foot, fore and aft rigged, topmast schooners. To accommodate
these large vessels, the yard was completely rebuilt to provide fully planked ways capable of handling all three
ships simultaneously. When America entered World War I in 1917, work was in progress on all three hulls. However,
by the time one of the ships was completed in 1918, the shipping crisis had abated and, with worsening financial
conditions, the Norwegian government failed to make payments on the contract. Because of Martinolich's fine
reputation, a major lumber supplier decided to take over the contract. During the reorganization of the shipyard
operations following the panic, Martinolich took in his relative, John Catalinich, to be a partner, Several
relatives, including Tonce Cosulich, also worked in the same shipyard. The combination of relatives and fiery
Dalmatian tempers resulted in some memorable verbal battles and smouldering rivalries. Cosulich and Catalinich
formed a partnership and bid for the construction of a new passenger steamer by undercutting Martinolich. They
obtained the contract to build the Vashona. Martinolich was enraged, and he, in turn, fiercely undercut them on
every job that came along, so that the partners were driven out of business. The rivalry finished, Martinolich
hired them back. Martinolich continued to build purse seiners and packers for the salmon trade. Many of his boats
were operated by local Dockton fishermen. They were divided into two groups: the big seine boats which were
operated by Slavonians (Croatians) such as Plancich, Beretich, Lubich, Catalinich, and Berry; and the
Scandinavians, who operated one and two-man trollers. In 1929, when business became slack at the shipyard,
Martinolich sent most of his crew to Gig Harbor to help the Skansie yard during the construction of the ferry
Skansonia. In 1930, he retired and the shipyard closed except for occasional repair work. In 1937, he left Dockton
to go to Italy, where he had acquired a villa. The Second World War forced his return to this country. He died in
Tacoma in 1960. (Petrich, M. 1984)

Martinolich Shipyard

MARTINOLICH, FRANK and MATTEO Shipyard: When Croatian born Matteo Martinolich came to the Mississippi Coast in the
mid-1880s, he was already skilled in shipbuilding and design. First working for Handsboro shipbuilder Henry
Lienhard, Martinolich then established his own shipyard on the banks of Bayou Bemard at Handsboro, now part of
Gulfport, Mississippi. An ad in the 1893 publication Mexican Gulf Illustrated advertises "Martinolich Shipyard.
Vessels Built Hauled out and Repaired on Short Notice, and Satisfaction Guaranteed. Also, Steamboats, Iron or
Wood, Yachts and Pleasure Boats." Matteo was the first to use Mississippi pine in the building of seagoing vessels
and built the first sliding-way on the Coast to handle vessels larger than 60 feet. Pictures of visitors to the
shipyard stand in the ribs of the schooner John Francis Stuard, then under construction. The rigged halfmodel of
this 205.8-foot 1,200-ton, four-masted schooner, built in 1919 to carry freight and lumber, is on exhibit in the
Hancock Bank in Gulfport The ship itself burned at the dock in Gulfport in 1928. Another photograph is of
Martinolich and the large family he reared in the banks of Bayou Bernard. Seated in the center of the photograph
is Frank Martinolich Sr., who came in 1883, along with his wife and sons Matteo and Frank Jr., from the island of
Losinj near the western coast of Croatia. Other family members are front row, from left; children Joseph, 12,
Andrew, 10; Leo, 3; Joanna Pavalini Martinolich holding 1-year-old. Jessie, standing next to Frank Sr. are Katie,
8 and Anna, 5. Through hard work and diligence, Martinolich launched a shipyard and raised a large family a true
American immigrant success story. But as with many success stories, his was also touched by tragedy. From 1911 to
1914, three Martinolich's sons, his brother and his father died. On June 19, 1914 his two youngest boys drowned
while swimming together in Bayou Bernard. Through World War I and until his semiretirement and closing of the
business in about 1922, Matteo Martinolich built and designed hundreds of ships and boats; some still ply the seas
today. (Pejovic, I 1935)

Martinolich Shipyard

MARTINOLICH, VENANZIO Fisherman-Shipyard-Mariner: In June of 1905, Venanzio Martinolich of Ladner, Canada signed a
contract with Yammamoto of Steveston to fish with Martinolich's 50 ft. steam tug "Eva". The tug was accompanied by
two scows, two seine boats, all necessary purse seine nets and approximately nine sailors and fishermen to fish
for dog salmon between Deep Bay and the town of Comox.
Purse Seiners were introduced in the U.S.A. during the mid-1880's to the Puget Sound area. The problem was
mobility; the early purse seiners were operated using both a scow and a skiff. As Duncan Stacey states in 'A
History of Gear Technology in the West Coast Fishing Industry', "Seine fishing at this point of time was a slow,
ponderous procedure: The early purse seiners were fished from a boat and scow. The boat was 25 ft. long and 7 ft.
wide". The scow upon which most of the work was done, and which was considered indispensable in setting the seine,
was 20 ft. long by 8 ft. wide.
At each end there was an iron winch. These winches were used for the “pursing up", the seine being pursed from the
scow. There was a wooden purse davit, which stepped into the side of the scow and to which were attached two (3
inch) wooden blocks, the purse line leading from them to the winches at either end. Eleven to fourteen men were
required to set the seine, six at the oars, two at the seine and two on the scow. During the slow process of
pursing, a man stood at the davit with a long pole, which had a block of wood called a "plunger" fastened to it.
This was kept working up and down between the purse lines to frighten the fish away from the centre of the net. No
doubt it was very effective in saving the school, as the bottom of the seine was left open from twenty-five to
forty minutes which was ample time for the salmon to find its way out. From an hour and a half to two hours were
required for setting, pursing up and stowing the seine ready for another trial.
The use of steam tugs partially solved the mobility problem, as Venanzio Martinolich proved, but the real
innovation at this point in the purse seine industry was the introduction of the internal combustion engine. As
Duncan Stacey explains: "It provided mobility and changed the method of setting the net".
The scows were discarded and the net moved from the skiff on the powered seiner. The end of the seine was now made
fast to the skiff which acted like a sea anchor and the seiner made a circle back to the skiff. Both ends of the
net were then brought aboard, the net pursed and finally hauled up, allowing the fish to be removed.
Soon after these powered seiners were introduced, their purse winches were driven by the main engine, which
eliminated much of the labour of pursing up. The powered purse seiners could set and haul up their nets in
approximately half the time required by their predecessors.
Venanzio Martinolich was bom on January 10, 1848, on the island of Mali Losinj on the north Adriatic coast of
Croatia. He was married in Mali Losinj; however his first wife passed away, leaving Venanzio with two children; a
son Mariano and a daughter Maria. A master mariner and boat builder, Venanzio decided that North America would
present better opportunities for him and his family, so they left his island, never to return. They landed in New
Orleans and Venanzio Martinolich soon met and married Antoinetta Nikolich. Venanzio then took his family to
Colorado where their daughter Carolina was bom on July 27, 1889. Apparently he attempted coal mining in the
north-west. The family moved on to Tacoma, Washmgton where a son, Venanzio was born on May 14, 1891. Venanzio and
Mariano started fishing in Tacoma, where it was decided that the Fraser River had no more to offer to catch. How
he finished in Tacoma and with what type of gear is not known. Venanzio then moved to Port Guichon 1892. Port
Guichon, about a mile south of moderm day Ladner near Vancouver, accommodated steamer and also sailing vessels.
Venanzio saw that there was a demand for scows and tugs. So he started his own shipyard. The first Martinolich
boats were steam-powered tugs. One was called the "B.C. Boy"; the other was the "Eva".
The entrepreneurial Venanzio began to work the gear that he built. In a recent
interview, grandson Richard Martinolich related to me that "Venanzio built a tug and used it himself to tow scows
and what not because they needed them on the river to collect the fish and bring the fish to canneries and what
not".
By the early 1900's a market was developing for the lesser grades of salmon such as dogs (for salting) and pinks
(for canning) where previously only sockeye, or in a bad sockeye year, red springs and cohoe were in demand.
Venanzio saw the opportunity to go fishing for the lucrative salmon market that was establishing and in 1905, he
acquired one the first Purse seine licences in B.C. He proceeded to fish areas on the coast, working an area until
the run had finished and then travelled to another area. Two scows were used: one for living quarters, the other
for the working platform and the base for the two boats that were used to set the nets from the scow. Venanzio
continued this type of operation for approximately three years.
However, as Duncan Stacey describes, the purse seining would be revolutionized by the internal combustion engine.
"The forerunner of the modern seiner was introduced around 1902 when the 'Pioneer', a gas-powered seine boat, was
launched in Puget Sound. This vessel was only 38 ft. long, powered by a 5 H.P. combustion engine, and had a
hand-operated purse winch. The typical early seine was a small open boat decked forward with a small cabin over
the engine. The width was twenty-five percent of the vessel's length to take the heavy cargoes and the strain of
pulling in the nets. The seine net was stored on a platform or table on the stem, hence the term table seiner".
In about 1909 Venanzio brought over the table seiner "Yankee Boy", probably imported from the Puget Sound area. It
was one of the earliest powered seine boats used in B.C. These early seiners were built to fish a localized
fisheries; however the fishing industry was changing and a need for most robust, deeper hull types would
necessitate changes in vessel design. As Duncan Stacey asserts, "British Columbia's seine fleet began to develop
rapidly after 1911 to exploit the Swift Sure Bank fishery of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Between 1911 and 1912
the number of seiners in this fishery rose from 22 to 100. Also seiners that fished theses waters were known as
deep sea seiner boats and differed from the earlier types, had more power, had crew quarters, and were fully
decked."
Venanzio used the "Yankee Boy" very successfully locally and he decided in 1912 to build a more robust hulled
seiner based on boat design. The boat he built "The B.C. Kid", was approximately eighteen feet long and a deeper
displacement hull, which was more geared for rough weather. The first home-built table seiner in the Ladner Area
was the "B.C. Kid", and would be Venanzio's last vessel.
In 1913 at age sixty-five, Venanzio Martinolich died of a heart attack, but he left behind him a legacy: The
pioneering Martinolich family would continue to be innovative in it's approach to fishing.
Matt Martinolich carried on in the fishing industry and built the "Green Sea" in 1918, a sixty-'five footer, the
"Daisy B" in 1927 and the. "Splendor", another sixty-five footer in 1940. Matt Martinolich married Emilla
Giuricich on February 17, 1917 in Port Guichon. They had three sons, Richard, Aldwin and Glenn. Little major
technological change occurred in the seine fisheries until the late 40's when a few seine fishermen were using
rudimentary drums, but with little success. Drum type seiners in contrast to table seiners could set and purse
more quickly.
A drum is a mechanically or hydraulically powered horizontal drum made of wood or aluminum which sets and hauls
the seine. It was commonly accepted however, that drum seiners could not catch the high-paying sockeye salmon, a
favourite target species by table seiners. This train of thought was commonplace mainly because this new
technology had not evolved to where the drum seine could became the dominant seine system. Table seining was still
the accepted means to catch salmon. In the early 50's the table seine net was brought up by fleeting the net. This
was by strapping the net and hauling it using the winch. The power block replaced the strapping process. (Herman
1995)

Lost in Translation: American Indies Seek Inspiration Overseas

by Anthony Kaufman

Catalina Sandino Moreno in a scene from Joshua Marston's "Maria Full of Grace."

"Ultimately, I think naval-gazing and solipsistic filmmaking is boring," says Joshua Marston, the writer-director of "Maria Full of Grace," the story of a Columbian girl who traffics drugs to the United States, which won an Audience Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. "I'm not interested in my own life. I don't think it's that interesting," Marston explains. "I believe passionately in a cinema that looks outwards and seeks to find new experiences and hear other people's stories."

Marston is not alone. Whether it's the United States' recent sober awakening to other cultures or simply the ever-shrinking world in which we live, a number of novice American independent filmmakers are looking abroad for inspiration.

At Sundance 2004, Christian Johnson unveiled "September Tapes," a "Blair Witch"-style docu-fiction about a journalist's disappearance in Afghanistan, shot in Kabul and Southern Afghanistan. Traveling the 2003 festival circuit were two foreign-made indie debut features, Paxton Winter's Americans-in-Turkey satire "Crude" and Bradley Rust Gray's Iceland-set "Salt." And earlier this month, filmmakers Michael Ojeda and Joel Goodman premiered their Balkan immigrant melodrama "Lana's Rain" in Chicago-area theaters.

"I think America is more aware of the pain that people are going through in other cultures," says "Lana's Rain" producer Joel Goodman. "We can't just eat our dinner and watch footage of all these people dying on the news anymore. After 9-11, what we see on TV is more real and we're getting more compassionate."

Inspired by the filmmakers' own immigrant family backgrounds and the horrors of the Balkan war, "Lana's Rain" depicts the travails of a Bosnian woman who flees to the U.S., only to find herself sold into prostitution by her mobster brother. While lacking the subtlety of such recent British-made tales of immigrant strife ("The Last Resort," "Dirty Pretty Things," "In this World"), "Lana's Rain" is one of the only American films of late to focus on the struggles of foreign protagonists.

Like Ojeda, Paxton Winters "didn't want to make something didactic," he explains. "Crude" -- which won top jury awards at the Los Angeles and Seattle Film Festivals and follows two hapless backpackers making their way through Turkey -- comes from Winter's eye-opening journeys around the world, particularly a resonant experience traveling along Asia's Silk Road for 15 months. "The culmination of that amazing trip gave me a different perspective," he says. "I am an American and I very much believe in the ideals the country was set on, but I wasn't going back to America to make a romantic comedy."

"Bush has done horrendous things to foreign policy and the view of America in the eyes of other countries," continues Winters, whose political beliefs inform the satiric bent of "Crude." "However," he adds, "I'm more interested in stories and characters"

Likewise, Bradley Rust Gray was compelled to make a film set in Iceland because of a character that was in his head: a young woman from a small fishing village -- where he had once spent time as an exchange student at Iceland's College of Arts and Crafts. Gray was attracted to the isolation and remoteness of the small Icelandic locale, both as an extension of his own alienated upbringing in Florida, but also as place so faraway from the U.S. experience that he could take liberties and be inventive with what he was depicting onscreen.

"I can lie about what Iceland is about, but I can't lie what Montana is about," he explains. "If you're doing a movie in a foreign country that other people don't know about, you're creating a new world apart from what people think it will be like."

Gray's reasons were also financial: he had been trying to get a pair of U.S.-based projects up-and-running after the success of his poetic short film "Hitch," but discovered that nobody in the States could raise financing. "I could do it for real cheap, but nobody's going to give you the money if you're not asking for enough," he says. "There's no system set up here for people to pay for a $100,000 movie."

"It is cheaper to go off and shoot in a foreign country," admits Gray, who self-financed the DV-shot "Salt" and is considering producing his next project in Canada. "People are more interested in helping out, whereas generally speaking, in Los Angeles, it's almost impossible. You can't even shoot in your own house without getting a permit."

"If you go to a foreign country and you have a foreign producer," adds Gray, "you're eligible for foreign money and that's more conducive to experimental filmmaking, especially in France and Germany."

While foreign tax laws and national subsidy guidelines are often in flux (the U.K. recently tightened a loophole, throwing a number of productions off track), additional countries such as Brazil, Iceland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are known for their various tax incentive "soft money" programs, as long as local producers are involved. "Salt" didn't directly benefit from such financial schemes, but the Icelandic Film Fund helped pay for the movie's blowup from digital video to 35mm when it was accepted at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. (Still without a U.S. release, "Salt" will play in the "Village Voice: Best of 2003" program at New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music this June.)

Winter agrees that shooting abroad can mean shooting cheaply and with more help from the community. "In Turkey, without a doubt, I was able to do a lot more with a lot less money than I could have in the States," he says. "And there is an incredible resourcefulness. When something breaks in the U.S., you throw it away or you buy a new one, whereas 'no' is not an answer in Turkey. There's always an alternative way to do something and that is very conducive to independent filmmaking."

Winters also notes there's lot less competition making movies overseas. "There's not a lot of American filmmakers outside of America," he says. "Here in New York, I'm one of a gazillion."

While runaway Hollywood blockbusters continue to be made more cheaply all the way from Morocco to Mexico, Winter says the run-and-gun, intimate nature of indies can get to places where the studios can't. While shooting in Southeast Turkey on the Iranian border, a multi-million dollar film project was denied access, whereas Winter says, "We went there and talked to the village chief, and not only did they not take money from us, but they opened up their houses, fed us and they were extras in the film."

"Lana's Rain" director Michael Ojeda relates a story about the few days he and his director of photography spent shooting exteriors in Croatia. To create the visceral feel of a country besieged by battle, they spotted a random pile of tires near the already bombed-out buildings and lit them on fire. "There was black smoke everywhere," he says, "and we got this awesome shot." Could he have pulled off the same improvised special effects in the U.S.? "Probably not," he says.

With the exception of "Maria Full of Grace," which Fine Line will release in July, the other films discussed here have not yet found a wider audience ("Crude" and "Salt" don't have distribution, while "Lana's Rain" has Chicago-based David Sikitch pushing a micro-release). But the hope is that moviegoers finally may be looking to other cultures and peoples than ever before.

"The great thing about Bush is that before Bush people didn't know about the rest of the world," says Winter, who is currently working on his next project "Iraqi Freedom," a script he workshopped at the Sundance Lab about an American solider who develops an intense relationship with an Iraqi family. "But now, there's a lot more people thinking about what's going in the rest of the world. And there's a little more interest in how we're viewed," he adds, "and what we're up to and why we're up to it."

Shock POSTED Wed Mar 24 [12:14 PM] BY mogreen

Today I read the article on IndieWIRE about American filmmakers telling stories about the rest of the world. I am delighted that American filmmakers and the American people are finally discovering that there is a world outside America. How exciting for you.

However, what really shocked me about the article was this:

"Lana's Rain" director Michael Ojeda relates a story about the few days he and his director of photography spent shooting exteriors in Croatia. To create the visceral feel of a country besieged by battle, they spotted a random pile of tires near the already bombed-out buildings and lit them on fire. "There was black smoke everywhere," he says, "and we got this awesome shot." Could he have pulled off the same improvised special effects in the U.S.? "Probably not," he says.

How would Michael Ojeda feel if someone lit a a bunch of tires on fire in his backyard? Is he really this insensitive? How nice for him to get his "awesome shot". Once again an example of Americans destroying the world for their selfish purposes.

Will I go see this movie? Definitely not.

http://www.indiewire.com/biz/biz_040324world.html

The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City is showing an international film festival called

"New Directors / New Films."

Over 20 countries are represented but not Croatia. Rather there is a movie called "FUSE" from Bosnia and Herzegovina. For tickets call 212-875-5050 or seewww.filmlinc.com 

FUSE. Pjer Zalica's debut feature starts with a jolt - emblematic of the dangers buried beneath the surface of a small rustic village, where, two years after the civil war has officially ended, Serbs and Muslims try to live and work together. A dryly humorous tone as well as a shrewd sense of reality, even in the tragic legacy of post war Bosnia, balance this beautifully wrought political satire. Times are tough indeed, and everyone in town seems to make their living the unlawful way. It's an unflinchingly honest and funny look at the struggle of a poor, corrupt community trying to hide its illegal activities and unhappy alliances and establish democracy - 'cause President Clinton is coming to visit! Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003. 105 min. T27B. Sat. MARCH 27 at 3PM W28C. Sun. MARCH 28 at 6PM

WINE TALK
Taking the Party on the Road

"Recently it was determined that zinfandel is identical to a grape long cultivated in Croatia. In other words, it is an immigrant. But myths die hard, and having taken zinfandel as our own, we are, it would appear, reluctant to give it up."

Editor's Note:
Is there any kind of brochure or leaflet or book or add or ANYTHING coming form Croatia about Zinfandel? Are we watching another golden carriage pass by?

Nenad Bach

Wayde Carroll
FOR A GRAPE Wines from 275 wineries were featured at the 13th annual Zinfandel Festival in San Francisco in January.

By FRANK J. PRIAL
Published: March 24, 2004

HARDONNAY is America's favorite wine, but if someone gave a party to celebrate it, how many people would come? Oh, a handful of fanatics, perhaps, plus the people who produce all those oak flavorings. But that's it. There is nothing visceral about the appeal of chardonnay.

Ah, but zinfandel, now that is something else. There was a party for zinfandel in San Francisco in January, and 8,500 people came. In the course of a long, liquid afternoon, they tasted, if that's the appropriate word, more than 550 wines offered by some 275 wineries.

Tasted might not be the right word because, according to participants (both winemakers and revelers), hardly anybody bothered to sip and spit. It was a wine drinking affair. In all fairness to the hosts, no one had to drink or taste on an empty stomach: each arriving guest was handed a baguette at the door, and there were mountains of California cheeses available.

The party, the San Francisco Zinfandel Festival, is an annual affair organized by Zinfandel Advocates and Producers, better known as ZAP, a nonprofit group dedicated to, in its own orotund words, "advancing the public knowledge of and appreciation for American zinfandel and its unique place in our culture and history." In other words, to tirelessly plug the wine, an exercise which has been wildly successful. I must note here that the organization means red zinfandel, and definitely not that wimpy, pale pink stuff known as white zinfandel.

The tasting, on Jan. 24 at Fort Mason, was preceded by several other events including an equally over-the-top Good Eats and Zinfandel lunch in Golden Gate Park, at which 36 zinfandel producers and 36 restaurants teamed up to show how well the wine goes with food. Only a modest 800 fans took part.

At the first ZAP tasting, in 1992, 22 wineries poured their wares for a small group of zinfandel fans. It was the kind of tasting that goes on every week in San Francisco, virtually unnoticed. But this one grew. Today ZAP claims 6,000 advocates and 310 producer members.

Almost all zinfandel comes from California. Small amounts are made in Oregon, Washington and New Zealand. Similar wines are made in Italy and Croatia. In Italy, the grape and the wine are called primitivo. Most of the wines poured at the big tasting were bottled ones from the 2001 vintage. Many producers also offered barrel samples, wines not yet bottled, from 2002.

Aside from showcasing zinfandel, ZAP finances research on the grape's provenance and history and covers most of the operating budget for the Zinfandel Heritage Vineyard in Oakville, in the Napa Valley, where zinfandel vines are gathered from all over California to study and preserve. Some of these vines are more than 100 years old.

Part of zinfandel's appeal is its long connection with America. For years it was known as this country's only native vinifera vine. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir and chardonnay all have traceable European origins.

Recently it was determined that zinfandel is identical to a grape long cultivated in Croatia. In other words, it is an immigrant. But myths die hard, and having taken zinfandel as our own, we are, it would appear, reluctant to give it up.

Zinfandel was long considered a second-tier grape, suitable mostly for jug wines. It was a major constituent in wines like Gallo's Hearty Burgundy. Later, producers like Ridge Vineyards showed that it could be fashioned into wines with elegance and complexity. Today's winemakers turn the grape into a remarkable array of wines, from light and simple styles to wines that are intense and long-lived. In recent years, old-vine zinfandels have been popular; so have high-alcohol wines, some of them containing 16.5 and 17 percent alcohol (most table wines have a 12.5 to 14 percent alcohol content).

Though many of the zins poured at the festival were alcoholic monsters, many seemed less massive than in former years, wrote Paul Franson, who publishes a newsletter about the Napa Valley. That was either because of climatic conditions or of restraint on the part of winemakers who may recognize that big isn't always better.

Many of the wines, in fact, were more like the friendly zins of yore, though that wasn't what most festival attendees were seeking, Mr. Franson wrote.

Calling the wines zins is part of zinfandel's populist image. Winemakers cannot resist the slightly louche effect that comes from rhyming zin with sin. Names that have appeared over the years include Original Zin, Mortal Zin and, in the case of wordsmith-winemaker Randall Grahm, Cardinal Zin, Made from Gnarly Old Vines.

For zinfandel lovers who can't make it to San Francisco for the annual bacchanal, ZAP takes its show on the road. As road shows go, it's a big one.

This year, some 50 wineries will pour new releases for their fans in five cities beginning with New York on April 22, where they will pitch their tent, figuratively speaking, at the 200 Fifth Club at 200 Fifth Avenue. Ticket information is available at www.zinfandel.org.

The road show offers less wine than the main event in San Francisco, but no one is likely to complain about being limited to 50 wines. In addition, there is the usual detritus of fan-oriented events, including caps, T-shirts and the like. A zinfandel T-shirt says something about the wine's laid-back image. I ask you, who could conceive of a cabernet sauvignon T-shirt?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/dining/24WINE.html