The American premiere of the film ‘The Eighth Commissioner', the Croatian nominee for the Oscar nomination in the category of the best foreign language film, filled the legendary Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard Thursday.
The promotion of ’The Eighth Commissioner' and Croatia, as a desirable tourist and interesting film destination for the American market, was held under the title 'A Night of Croatian Film & Flavors'. This is the first international cooperation of the Croatian Audiovisual Center (HAVC) and the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) aiming to create the preconditions to better place this film, as well as any future Croatian Oscar nominee, and the promotion of Croatia through the film industry, reports Dalmacija Danas on November 17, 2018.
The event started with a walk on the red carpet, which included Ivan Salaj (director), Jozo Patljak (producer), Frano Mašković, Borko Perić and Nadia Cvitanović (actors), Slobodan Trninić (director of photography), Antonio Patljak (master of visual effects), Zoran Rajic (scriptwriter) and Ivana Grubišić Perišić (production assistant), among numerous Croatian filmmakers living and working in America. This support included actor Goran Višnjić, actress Leona Paraminski, creative director of CBS Sports and winner of 36 Emmy awards Pete Radovich Jr., composer and winner of 7 Emmy awards Helmut Von Lichten, filmmaker Vanja Černjul, producer and composer Bobby Boško Grubić and producer director Alen Petković.
After the screening, directors Ivan Salaj and Frano Mašković, and actors Borko Perić and Nadia Cvitanović, revealed details of the film in a public discussion, followed by a reception where guests could enjoy selected Croatian delicacies and wines.
“It was very interesting to watch and listen to the audience’s impressions from an American perspective. Namely, I knew that all Europeans and people from the Mediterranean would react well to the movie, because they know about the mentality. However, the American public's response is brilliant, which proves that the most important thing in life is the emotion, which is the same in all meridians and parallels,” said the leading actor of the film, Frano Mašković, who arrived in Los Angeles with his wife Inje.
Director Ivan Salaj could not hide his enthusiasm either.
“The Egyptian Theater is a cult theatre and a truly top location, especially when you see that the theatre is full before the projection. And that is among the audience and about fifty members of the Academy which greatly increases the likelihood of the film getting noticed. This year, the rules changed, and the members of the commission were not required to watch more than 12 films, so theoretically it could happen that no-one sees any of the 90 or so films. If anything, this gives us the opportunity for the film to get a US distributor,” he said.
Director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić attended the premiere screening of the film in front of the American audience.
“This is a great response to the quality of Croatian film and Croatian artists, but also to Croatia as a hit tourist destination in this big and strategically important market for us. We know that an increasing number of tourists are visiting the unique Croatian film locations that become attractive tourist destinations and we are confident that our country will continue to be enticing for Hollywood film production,” concluded Staničić.
