Fadil Hadžić

Fadil Hadžić (23 April 1922 – 3 January 2011) was a Croatian and Yugoslav film director, screenwriter, playwright and journalist, mainly known for his comedy films and plays. He was born in Bileća in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but mainly lived and worked in Zagreb, with the Croatian and wider Yugoslav productions.

Born in Bileća in Herzegovina, in what was then Yugoslavia, he went to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb. He then worked on editing several popular magazines (Kerempuh, Vjesnik u srijedu, Telegram). He was also one of the founders of the prominent theatres Kerempuh (then called Jazavac) and Komedija in Zagreb, and also worked as the intendant at the Zagreb's Croatian National Theatre.

He had his screenwriting debut in 1952 with the animated film The Haunted Castle at Dudinci (Croatian: Začarani dvorac u Dudincima), directed by Dušan Vukotić. In 1961, Hadžić had his directorial debut with Alphabet of Fear (Abeceda straha). He was a prolific and versatile filmmaker throughout the 1960s and his film Official Position (Službeni položaj) won the Big Golden Arena for Best Film at the 1964 Pula Film Festival. In the 1970s and 1980s his output was lower, but in spite of this he won the Golden Arena for Best Director for his 1979 film Journalist (Novinar).