ZAGREB ZAGREB, March 18 (Hina) - Before another round of negotiations on succession to former Yugoslavia takes place in Brussels in the first half of April, archivists from successor-states will hold a meeting in Zagreb to discuss one
of the more sensitive issues - the distribution of archive materials. Talks on succession always last long and talks about archive materials, documentation and works of art are more difficult than those about gold and money, said Croatian State Archive head Josip Kolanovic. According to Kolanovic, Croatia is open for any talks which could help experts start resolving possible disputes ahead of the Brussels meeting. The exact date of the Zagreb meeting will be known early next week and for the time being it is known that it should gather representatives from different archives, including film archives. The head of the Yugoslav Film Archives, Radoslav Zelenovic, recently told the Cro
ZAGREB, March 18 (Hina) - Before another round of negotiations on
succession to former Yugoslavia takes place in Brussels in the
first half of April, archivists from successor-states will hold a
meeting in Zagreb to discuss one of the more sensitive issues - the
distribution of archive materials.
Talks on succession always last long and talks about archive
materials, documentation and works of art are more difficult than
those about gold and money, said Croatian State Archive head Josip
Kolanovic.
According to Kolanovic, Croatia is open for any talks which could
help experts start resolving possible disputes ahead of the
Brussels meeting.
The exact date of the Zagreb meeting will be known early next week
and for the time being it is known that it should gather
representatives from different archives, including film
archives.
The head of the Yugoslav Film Archives, Radoslav Zelenovic,
recently told the Croatian daily 'Novi list' that the funds of the
Yugoslav Film Archives had been distributed back in 1973 with the
consent of all republic archives and that after establishing its
national archives, Croatia had reclaimed its films in 1982.
Zelenovic said Croatia could obtain copies of films on its history
and culture.
Kolanovic and his assistant for the Croatian Film Archives, Mato
Kukuljica, dismissed Zelenovic's claims as false.
Kolanovic believes Zelenovic is not acquainted with the legal basis
of the succession agreement and that his statements are not in line
with the official stand of the Yugoslav negotiating team.
The Croatian State Archives include documents on films which were
borrowed by and remained at the Yugoslav Film Archives, Kukuljica
said.
It is indisputable that all delegations accepted at a Ljubljana
meeting in late February the principle of so-called territorial
provenance, which means that what has been borrowed from a
territory must be returned, Kolanovic said.
He believes there should be no problems with the reclaiming of films
given that the agreement treats film material as any other
material.
Croatia expects to reclaim, among else, documentaries and
newsreels filmed in Croatia until 1945 and foreign films imported
and shown in Croatia at the time, as well as a fund of foreign films
shown between 1945 and 1978, and the "Filmoteka 16" fund.
Belgrade still holds works which are considered Croatia's national
film heritage - 'Sibenska luka (The Port of Sibenik)' by Stanislav
Noworyt from 1903, 'Sesir (Hat)' by Oktavijan Miletic and the
original of Miletic's film 'Lisinski', the first feature-length
sound film.
According to Kukuljica, apart from newsreels filmed during the
Independent State of Croatia (NDH, 1941-1945), valuable newsreels
of LUCA, MGM and Fox film producers were handed to the Yugoslav Film
Archives for permanent keeping.
Kukuljica estimates that the most difficult part of talks will be
the distribution of film classics.
(hina) rml