FILM HRVATI PREMIERES IN SEATTLE

It was most wonderful to hear earlier this month from my dear Dalmatian friends living in the cities of Anacortes and Seattle in the state of Washington regarding the premiere showing of the film, HRVATI! Having been indirectly involved in the planning and organization of the film, this news indeed has special meaning to me. It represents the culmination of many months of long and often tedious preparations, negotiations, filming, editing and much hard work by many devoted people who were determined to see this endeavor fulfilled. According to first-hand reports, the film, which aired in the Greater Seattle Area on February 25, 1981 has already received numerous compliments, not only from the large Croatian community in the Puget Sound region, but also from the general public.

HRVATI was conceived and produced by the five-time Emmy Award-winning team of Jean Walkinshaw and Wayne Sourbeer of the PBS network affiliate, television station KCTS-Channel 9 in Seattle. The highly acclaimed filmmakers are widely known throughout the entire country for their in-depth documentary film work which warmly and sensitively profiles people in relation to the surroundings and environment in which they live - or, as they themselves have put it, profiles of the extraordinary in the ordinary. In HRVATI, Walkinshaw and Sourbeer devote their attention to the small coastal town of Anacortes and specifically to the Croatian fishing community that has resided there since the last century. The film focuses on the lives of three sisters who have done so much in recent years to revitalize and further the preservation of Croatian culture and folk arts, which even more importantly includes their work in promulgating the culture among non-Croatians throughout the Pacific Northwest. The sisters, Maria Franulovic Petrish, Alma Franulovic Plancich, and Binki Franulovic Spahi, emigrated to Anacortes immediately after the Second World War with their parents, Jure and Marija Franulovic, from the town of Vela Luka on the island of Korcula. Anacortes had become a thriving colony of “Lucani” as early as the 1920's as some 200 families settled there from Vela Luka. They were drawn by the excellent fishing conditions and by the natural beauty and similarity of Anacortes and the surrounding San Juan Islands to their native Dalmatian coast.

The half-hour film uses no narrator, but rather, Walkinshaw has the Franulovic sisters themselves speaking candidly about their lives, their family and the community. The spoken text is visually set against the scenic backdrop of the Puget Sound region: the sea, the mountains, the fertile Skagit Valley; all play significantly in the lives of the Anacortes Croatians. For example, the sisters are spontaneously captured with their family and friends at a traditional Dalmatian boat christening and farewell to their father and his crew as they leave for Alaska to fish.

In addition, a good portion of the film is devoted to the music, song and dance of Croatia which is truly an integral part of the cultural life of the Anacortes, community. Maria Petrish, in fact, was most responsible for the creation of the VELA LUKA ( Croatian Dance Ensemble, a semi-professional folklore company of over 60 dancers and musicians from the community, ranging in age from 6-50. There are a number of scenes which include the members of VELA LUKA seen performing in traditional costumes made in Anacortes. Thus, through the inclusion of these cultural and folklore motifs, the subject matter of HRVATI! is conveyed to the viewer in a deeper and more expressive manner, which, in turn, allows one to perceive the genuine vitality and pride that the Croatians in Anacortes possess toward themselves and their ethnic heritage. (The “Lucani” in fact affectionately refer to Anacortes as “Anakorcula”)

Currently, we are all very anxiously awaiting further critical reviews of the film which will ultimately decide if PBS will televise HRVATI! nationally across America. Such a success cannot be understated as the film will aid in correcting some of the misunderstandings and misconceptions that many Americans have towards the Croatian people. And secondly, it will justify the struggle of the Franulovic sisters who have sought out deserved recognition from the American public for the oftenlooked contributions Croatians have made not only in this region but throughout the country. Recognition on the national level has already begun to occur as the film was financed in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

And finally, it should be mentioned that audiences in the Old Country, will have a chance to see, if not the film itself, at least the Franulovic sisters and the VELA LUKA Ensemble in person in the summer of 1982 when the Anakorulani arrive as guests of MATICA to conduct a concert tour throughout Croatia.

MISKO VEZILIC

Matica April 1981