Documentary Film Production in Croatia: Defining Public Interest

Javni interes u audiovizualnoj industriji pojam je koji se definira na razne načine, a tiče se nacionalnih i europskih politika, unutar kojih je pravno reguliran. Definicije ovog pojma i primjene istih u praksi često su odraz šire slike načina djelovanja pojedinih javnih ustanova. Cilj ovog rada je stoga bio prepoznati različite definicije i prakse te, kroz polustrukturirane intervjue s predstavnicima organizacija koje sudjeluju u lancu audiovizualne proizvodnje, doći do zaključka o tome kako se razgovara o javnom interesu u javnim tijelima i kako se postupa prema dokumentarnom filmu. Provedena studija slučaja je uključivala tri organizacije: HAVC, HRT i DHFR. Javni interes, kada je riječ o dokumentarnom filmu, unutar ovih institucija se “na papiru” promatra na slične načine – objektivni kriteriji za ocjenjivanje kvalitete filmova ustanovljeni su na istim vrijednostima. Međutim, kada je riječ o HRT-u, proces odlučivanja je netransparentan, a Programsko vijeće zaduženo za javni interes nema gotovo nikakvog utjecaja na odlučivanje o dokumentarnom filmu. Dok neki javni televizijski servisi zarađuju od vlastitog dokumentarnog programa, HRT usmjerava sredstva namijenjena za audiovizualna (dokumentarna) djela prema ciljevima ostvarenja pojedinačnih interesa.Public interest in the audiovisual industry is a term that is defined in various ways, and concerns national and European policies, within which it is legally regulated. Definitions of this term and their application in practice are often a reflection of the broader picture of the ways in which certain public institutions operate. The aim of this paper was therefore to identify different definitions and practices and, through semi-structured interviews with representatives of organizations involved in the audiovisual production chain, to come to a conclusion on how public interest is discussed in public bodies and how documentary film is handled. The conducted case study included three organizations: HAVC, HRT and DHFR. The public interest, when it comes to documentary film, is observed in these institutions "on paper" in similar ways - objective criteria for assessing the quality of films are established on the same values. However, when it comes to HRT, the decision-making process is non-transparent, and the Program Council in charge of the public interest has almost no influence at all on the decision-making on the documentary. While some public television services make money from their own documentaries, HRT directs funds intended for audiovisual (documentary) works towards the goals of achieving individual interests