Twenty-five years ago, on April 10, 1995, in the heart of New York City, in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, in the most famous hall on the American continent - Radio City Music Hall - the world premiere of the film "GOSPA" directed by Jakov Sedlar took place. The leading roles were played by Hollywood actors Martin Sheen, Michael York, and Morgan Fairchild.
"GOSPA" has remained to this day the most expensive Croatian feature film with a budget of 4.8 million US dollars, which, considering inflation and the purchasing power of the dollar at that time, is equivalent to approximately 8.2 million dollars today. In many aspects, the film has remained at the forefront of Croatian cinema, far ahead of all other domestic film and audiovisual achievements.
The life story of Father Jozo Zovko, who in the 1980s was imprisoned and tortured by the communist authorities because he believed in the testimonies of several children from the parish where he was a priest. These children claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in 1981 on a rocky field near the small village of Međugorje in Herzegovina. This story proved to be an ideal scenario for a feature film, especially since Zovko heroically stood up to protect the children, who quickly became a global sensation and the majority of whom still claim to have daily apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
Sedlar Among the First in Međugorje
Filmmaker Jakov Sedlar was one of the first to arrive in Međugorje shortly after these events. He initially made a documentary film about it and later a feature film called "In the Middle of My Days". However, it wasn't until the early 1990s that he decided to make a proper feature film about the events of the early 1980s and the fate of a man who was willing to go to prison for his faith. He engaged academician Ivan Aralica to write the screenplay, which Sedlar then showed to his friends and business partners from Canada - Igor Prižmić and Marijan Perković. Together, they decided to venture into producing a Hollywood-style film about these events, which they chose to film in English because they believed that only such a film, with a serious cast, had a chance to succeed in international distribution, where serious money could be made in the film business.
Perković and Prižmić had been working in Canada for years before that, involved in film production. They were best known for their documentary series about the greatest world artists such as Picasso, Chavez, Salvador Dali, and Generalić, which sold to various international TV stations. They were also the founders and owners of CCTV, the Canadian-Croatian television, which during the aggression against Croatia, long before the internet era, broadcasted daily informative cultural programs to Croats in the diaspora, covering news related to the Greater Serbian aggression against Croatia and its struggle for freedom.
Through their companies Marian Film and IPI International Group from Toronto, together with Sedlar's company Helios Film from Zagreb, they invested a total of 4.8 million dollars without a single cent from the state budget or the Ministry of Culture. They engaged world-famous Hollywood actors Martin Sheen and Michael York, whose involvement in a film about the apparitions in Međugorje caused a stir in both domestic and international media. Later, it was announced that the role of Fra Jozo's sister, Sister Fabijana Zovko, would be played by none other than the former sex symbol and famous blonde actress Morgan Fairchild.
Sedlar, Prižmić, and Perković spared no expense in other aspects of the production of "GOSPA". They hired Barry Morrow, one of the most famous American screenwriters who won an Oscar for the film "Rain Man" starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, as a co-screenwriter and one of the executive producers of the film.
They also enlisted another Oscar winner, cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek (who won the golden statue for "Amadeus"), as the director of photography, along with a number of other well-known Hollywood actors for supporting roles, such as Paul Guilfoyle from the series CSI, Frank Finlay, William Hootkins, and George Coe, alongside famous Croatian actors such as Mustafa Nadarević, Božidar Orešković, Vanja Drach, and Slavko Brankov.
The filming itself took place in mid-1994 in Zagreb and Međugorje, causing a sensation in the then war-torn country, especially since the production brought the first two Lincoln Stretch white limousines to Croatia, imported from America by the film's producer Igor Prižmić. This was done to make the Hollywood stars feel like they were in Los Angeles while filming in Zagreb. The limousines were parked in front of the Esplanade Hotel, where Prižmić had his office in the 1990s, and even after filming, they continued to amaze the citizens of Zagreb, as well as the hotel guests and staff.
Film Presented in Cannes
In 1994, "GOSPA" was also presented at the Cannes Film Festival, where Sedlar, Prižmić, Perković, and the film's co-producer Vladimir Kraljević, along with the main actors and actress, presented the project to journalists from around the world on the terrace of the Hotel Majestic. This was the first and only time that a film from the relatively unknown, small, and war-torn country attracted so much attention with one audiovisual project.
The world premiere took place on April 10, 1995, at the Radio City Music Hall, which had been sold out for days prior to the screening and was filled to capacity on the day of the screening, with 5,343 viewers. "GOSPA" set a record for the attendance of a Croatian film at a premiere or any other screening, as well as for the revenue generated on the first day of screening. The producers earned around 250,000 dollars from the premiere alone, and one of the producers, Marijan Perković, kept the check they received from the venue owners as a memento. He also had a golden bracelet made with diamonds, with "GOSPA" engraved on one side and the exact amount they received and the premiere date engraved on the other side.
Due to this date, Sedlar, Prižmić, and Perković were accused by Serbian media of spreading pro-Ustasha propaganda because fifty years earlier, on that date, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) had been established. However, they completely rejected these allegations, stating that they had taken the first available date offered by the Rockefeller Center executives and had no influence over the available dates at Radio City Music Hall.
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