Oja Kodar
Encyclopedia
Oja Kodar is a Croatia
n actress, screenwriter and director, best known as the girlfriend of Orson Welles
for the last 24 years of his life.
in 1961, when Welles was in the city filming The Trial
. She was around twenty years of age. Kodar now manages Welles' estate.
(uncredited). She appeared in the film as herself. She later co-directed and co-wrote the 1995 German-French documentary Orson Welles: The One-Man Band. For this film, she supervised a compilation of unused footage shot by Welles over the final 20 years of his career. Kodar is interviewed in Los Angeles and in Orvilliers
, France where they shared a house. This documentary is included on the Criterion Collection
DVD release of F For Fake.
According to the documentary, Kodar performed in at least three films that Welles worked on in the 1970s, but which were never released: The Other Side of the Wind
(in which she performs a love scene in a car), The Deep
, and The Dreamers
, in which she was to have played the lead role. The Other Side of the Wind was largely completed and according to media reports in April 2007 speculated on a release in 2008. The other films were never completed for reasons explained in the documentary.
1989 marked Kodar's debut as a feature film director, with the release of Jaded. The film was produced by Kodar and Gary Graver (one of the cameramen on F for Fake), who doubled as the director of photography. The film starred Randall Brady, Elizabeth Brooks, Scott Kaske, Jillian Kesner, Kelli Maroney, and Oja Kodar. Portions of the film were shot in an artist's loft in downtown Los Angeles.
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 actress, screenwriter and director, best known as the girlfriend of Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
for the last 24 years of his life.
Life
Born as Olga Palinkaš in 1941, Kodar was the partner and lover of Orson Welles during the last twenty-four years of his life. They met in her birthplace, and hometown, of 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...
in 1961, when Welles was in the city filming The Trial
The Trial (1962 film)
The Trial is a 1962 film directed by Orson Welles, who also wrote the screenplay based on the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka...
. She was around twenty years of age. Kodar now manages Welles' estate.
Career
Kodar co-wrote the script of Welles' documentary film, F for FakeF for Fake
F for Fake is the last major film completed by Orson Welles, who directed, co-wrote, and starred in the film. Initially released in 1974, it focuses on Elmyr de Hory's recounting of his career as a professional art forger; de Hory's story serves as the backdrop for a fast-paced, meandering...
(uncredited). She appeared in the film as herself. She later co-directed and co-wrote the 1995 German-French documentary Orson Welles: The One-Man Band. For this film, she supervised a compilation of unused footage shot by Welles over the final 20 years of his career. Kodar is interviewed in Los Angeles and in Orvilliers
Orvilliers
Orvilliers is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France....
, France where they shared a house. This documentary is included on the Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
DVD release of F For Fake.
According to the documentary, Kodar performed in at least three films that Welles worked on in the 1970s, but which were never released: The Other Side of the Wind
The Other Side of the Wind
The Other Side of the Wind is an unfinished film directed by Orson Welles, shot between 1969 and 1976, and starring John Huston, Bob Random, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg and Oja Kodar.-Summary:...
(in which she performs a love scene in a car), The Deep
The Deep (Orson Welles film)
The Deep is an unfinished film directed by Orson Welles and based on the novel Dead Calm by Charles Williams, which would later be adapted into the film of the same title. Welles produced and wrote the film, and also played the role of Russ Brewer opposite Jeanne Moreau and Laurence Harvey.Welles...
, and The Dreamers
The Dreamers (unfinished film)
The Dreamers is an unfinished and unreleased film project directed and produced between 1980 and 1982 by Orson Welles.-Production history:...
, in which she was to have played the lead role. The Other Side of the Wind was largely completed and according to media reports in April 2007 speculated on a release in 2008. The other films were never completed for reasons explained in the documentary.
1989 marked Kodar's debut as a feature film director, with the release of Jaded. The film was produced by Kodar and Gary Graver (one of the cameramen on F for Fake), who doubled as the director of photography. The film starred Randall Brady, Elizabeth Brooks, Scott Kaske, Jillian Kesner, Kelli Maroney, and Oja Kodar. Portions of the film were shot in an artist's loft in downtown Los Angeles.