Albert Kapović was one of the founders of the Croatian Producers Association, the first managing director of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, an outstanding producer, a good teacher, a brave visionary, but most of all a great man and to many of us a professional and moral role model. To present the award bearing his name is a great responsibility to both the givers and the recipients.

Over 20 years on the scene, more than 30 fiction films, more than 10 TV series, an immense experience and diligent effort of our colleague Ivan Maloča this year yielded extraordinary results. The beginning of the year was marked by the premiere of Zrinko Ogresta’s film at the Berlinale, followed by a number of awards at international festivals and the triumph of On the Other Side at Pula Film Festival. The film was nominated for the EFA best film and filmmakers also chose it as the Croatian Academy Award candidate film. The year whose beginning brought our colleague Maloča a premiere at an A-list festival, is closing with a successful release of Rajko Grlić’s Constitution of the Republic of Croatia. The world premiere in Montreal earned it the Grand Prize of the Americas. Another success from Ivan Maloča’s workshop is the season two of Goran Kulenović’s Crno-bijeli svijet TV series, and notwithstanding all the duties, Ivan has managed to find the time to remain active and persistent in our association, striving to improve the conditions of our activities. Therefore, the commission of the Croatian Producers Association did not have a difficult task this year regarding the Albert Kapović Award and unanimously decided to give it to Ivan Maloča, who remain unhindered at the forefront of our profession for 25 years and quite possibly will remain the same in the 25 years to come.

Annual Albert Kapović Award Commission: Ankica Jurić Tilić (chairperson), Vesna Mort, Vanja Andrijević, Draško Ivezić, Robert Vidić

Ivan Maloča, born 1962 in Knin, Croatia, has produced around 30 feature fiction films that garnered a host of awards in Croatia and internationally (Marshal, Red Dust, Witnesses, Here, Sleep Sweet My Darling, Two Players from the Bench, A Ghost in the Swamp, Play Me a Love Song, Behind the Glass, 72 Days, Sonja and the Bull, The Priest’s Children etc.), over 100 music and commercial videos and commissioned films. Also, he produced over 30 documentary films and series, several drama series among which Crno-bijeli svijet is the most prominent, and the first Croatian sitcom, Bitange i princeze. Ivan Maloča is a winner of many Croatian and foreign awards, including three Golden Arenas for best film and five Pula Golden Gates for best film to the audience’s choice.