Vlado Kristl
Kristl first came to international prominence for his formally challenging and rigous animations, particularly Don Kihot (freely inspired by Cervantes’ Don Quixote). The film is a « graphical and abstract masterpiece which went beyond all existing conventions » (Ingo Petzke 40 years of Animation made by Zagreb Film) and was suitably awarded the main prize at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival. Working within the highly respected Zagreb Film of animation was not easy and Kristl regarded this film, which was not his first, as the one were he « was finally given a free rein » (Ron Holloway). By producing this film entirely himself, Kristl inspired the artists in Zagreb Film to liberate themselves. In 1962 Kristl made General i resni clovek (The General and the real human being), a satirical live action short film which got him into trouble with the board of censors. Kristl died in 2004 in Munich, Germany.