Goran Dukic
Encyclopedia
Goran Dukić is a Croatia
n film director
, screenwriter
and actor
best known for writing and directing the 2006 film
Wristcutters: A Love Story
.
, Croatia
, Dukić says that as a child he enjoyed telling stories and was keen to express himself visually, so—not finding painting, writing or theater "dynamic" enough—he became interested in filmmaking and made many amateur short films as a teenager. His 1991 short film
Mirta uci statistiku ("Myrtha Learns Statistics") and his 1992 short documentary
Posebni gosti ("Special Guests") screened at Croatian film festival
s, the latter winning the Oktavijan Award for Best Short Film from the Days of Croatian Film. He attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in film, later completing a Master of Fine Arts
at the American Film Institute
Conservatory
in Hollywood, California
in the United States
.
, Dukić directed the 2001 short
How I Saved the World, and directed and edited the 2002 short
The Yellow House. He edited and starred as Brian Riley in the 2004 film
Dead Doll.
Dukić wrote and directed the 2007 film
Wristcutters: A Love Story
, based on Etgar Keret
's short story
"Kneller’s Happy Campers" and about a world in the afterlife
reserved for suicide victims. He had contacted Keret immediately after reading the novella and asked for the rights to the story, but Dukić was turned away with Keret telling him that he had other film-adaptation offers from French
and German
filmmakers and would only give away the rights if he was shown a complete screenplay
that he felt did the story justice. Keret was impressed by Dukić's screenplay and gave him permission to make the film. Dukić's main storyline was the same as the original story, but he added many of his own details to the film, such as the characters not being able to smile in the afterworld and the absence of stars in the night sky. In writing the script and directing the film, Dukić says his goal was to "preserve [the novella's] essence but yet to add as much of my own sensibility and vision to make it a personal movie". He felt one of the most important elements in the creation of the afterworld was music. Although many believe that the musicians who's songs were featured in the soundtrack had passed, this is not true. Eugene (singer in the band Gogol Bordello) is very much alive and has not gotten credit for having his music in the movie. He has not been credited for having his life featured in the movie either..
Dukić's next project is a murder mystery film involving identity crisis
, based on his first screenplay, "I Could Be You". He lists his creative inspirations as film director
s Luis Buñuel
, Robert Altman
, François Truffaut
, Jean-Luc Godard
, Martin Scorsese
, Roman Polanski
, Dušan Makavejev
, Jim Jarmusch
, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
, Akira Kurosawa
, Robert Aldrich
, Andrei Tarkovsky
, Samuel Fuller
, Wim Wenders
and David Lynch
.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for writing and directing the 2006 film
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Wristcutters: A Love Story is a 2006 comedy-fantasy-romance film written and directed by Goran Dukić, starring Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, and Shannyn Sossamon. It is set in a strange afterlife way-station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.It is based on Etgar Keret's...
.
Early life
Born in ZagrebZagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Dukić says that as a child he enjoyed telling stories and was keen to express himself visually, so—not finding painting, writing or theater "dynamic" enough—he became interested in filmmaking and made many amateur short films as a teenager. His 1991 short film
1991 in film
The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
Mirta uci statistiku ("Myrtha Learns Statistics") and his 1992 short documentary
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
Posebni gosti ("Special Guests") screened at Croatian film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s, the latter winning the Oktavijan Award for Best Short Film from the Days of Croatian Film. He attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in film, later completing a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
at the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Conservatory
AFI Conservatory
The AFI Conservatory is a division of the American Film Institute founded in 1969, located in Hollywood's Griffith Park. The school is the only existing Master of Fine Arts conservatory in advanced film education...
in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Career
After relocating to Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Dukić directed the 2001 short
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
How I Saved the World, and directed and edited the 2002 short
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
The Yellow House. He edited and starred as Brian Riley in the 2004 film
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
Dead Doll.
Dukić wrote and directed the 2007 film
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Wristcutters: A Love Story is a 2006 comedy-fantasy-romance film written and directed by Goran Dukić, starring Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, and Shannyn Sossamon. It is set in a strange afterlife way-station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.It is based on Etgar Keret's...
, based on Etgar Keret
Etgar Keret
Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television.-Personal Life:Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child to parents who survived the Holocaust. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife, Shira Geffen, and...
's short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"Kneller’s Happy Campers" and about a world in the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
reserved for suicide victims. He had contacted Keret immediately after reading the novella and asked for the rights to the story, but Dukić was turned away with Keret telling him that he had other film-adaptation offers from French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
filmmakers and would only give away the rights if he was shown a complete screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
that he felt did the story justice. Keret was impressed by Dukić's screenplay and gave him permission to make the film. Dukić's main storyline was the same as the original story, but he added many of his own details to the film, such as the characters not being able to smile in the afterworld and the absence of stars in the night sky. In writing the script and directing the film, Dukić says his goal was to "preserve [the novella's] essence but yet to add as much of my own sensibility and vision to make it a personal movie". He felt one of the most important elements in the creation of the afterworld was music. Although many believe that the musicians who's songs were featured in the soundtrack had passed, this is not true. Eugene (singer in the band Gogol Bordello) is very much alive and has not gotten credit for having his music in the movie. He has not been credited for having his life featured in the movie either..
Dukić's next project is a murder mystery film involving identity crisis
Identity crisis (psychology)
"Identity crisis is the failure to achieve ego identity during adolescence." The term was coined by the psychologist Erik Erikson. The stage of psychosocial development in which identity crisis may occur is called the Identity Cohesion versus Role Confusion stage...
, based on his first screenplay, "I Could Be You". He lists his creative inspirations as film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
s Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
, Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
, François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
, Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
, Dušan Makavejev
Dušan Makavejev
Dušan Makavejev is a Serbian film director and screenwriter, famous for his groundbreaking films of Yugoslav cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
, Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich was an American film director, writer and producer, notable for such films as Kiss Me Deadly , The Big Knife , What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte , The Flight of the Phoenix , The Dirty Dozen , and The Longest Yard .-Biography:Robert...
, Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
, Samuel Fuller
Samuel Fuller
Samuel Michael Fuller was an American screenwriter, novelist, and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.-Personal life:...
, Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
and David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
.
Awards
- Days of Croatian Film
- 1991 – Oktavijan Award for Best Short Film, Mirta uci statistiku (Won)
- Gen Art Film FestivalGen Art Film FestivalGen Art is an arts and entertainment organization that showcases emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists. It has produced over 100 events annually, which included fashion shows, film screenings, live music and art receptions and tours...
- 2006 – Best Feature, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Won)
- Gotham AwardsGotham AwardsThe Gotham Awards is an annual ceremony of awards presented to the makers of independent films which takes place in New York City...
- 2006 – Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Nominated)
- Hamptons International Film FestivalHamptons International Film FestivalHamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...
- 2001 – Student Film Award, How I Saved the World (Won)
- Humanitas PrizeHumanitas PrizeThe Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...
- 2006 – Humanitas Prize (Sundance Film Category), Wristcutters: A Love Story (Nominated)
- Independent Spirit AwardsIndependent Spirit AwardsThe Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
- 2006 – Best First Feature, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Nominated)
- 2006 – Best First Screenplay, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Nominated)
- Motovun Film FestivalMotovun Film FestivalMotovun Film Festival is an annual film festival established in 1999 and held in Motovun, Croatia. It usually takes place over 5–6 days in late July or early August...
- 2006 – Audience Award, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Won)
- 2006 – Propeller of Motovun, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Won)
- Philadelphia Film FestivalPhiladelphia Film FestivalThe Philadelphia Film Festival is held annually in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Until 2009 it was generally held during the first weeks of April....
- 2006 – Best First Time Director, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Won)
- 2006 – Jury Award, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Won)
- Seattle International Film FestivalSeattle International Film FestivalThe Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
- 2006 – Golden Space Needle Award, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Won)
- Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
- 2006 – Grand Jury Prize, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Nominated)
- Wisconsin Film FestivalWisconsin Film FestivalThe Wisconsin Film Festival is an annual film festival, founded in 1999. The five-day long festival is held every April in Madison, Wisconsin.The Festival presents a broad range of independent American and world cinema , restorations and revivals, and locally made pictures from Wisconsin filmmakers...
- 2006 – Audience Award for Best Narrative Film, Wristcutters: A Love Story (Won)