A Slice of Science Fiction
It’s an incredible tradition for a non-profit organisation of enthusiasts and volunteers. They organise gatherings for people who enjoy science fiction and kindred genres. Believe it or not, the amount of work behind that simple goal is enormous. SFera is active in publishing. Through its projects, SFera serves as a platform for emerging Croatian writers and sparks creativity among kids and youth. Receiving the SFera literary award is one of the greatest honours for Croatian writers. And SFera is the mothership of Croatia's biggest and oldest convention. SFeraKon is just two years younger than the organisation itself. If you're in Zagreb in May, stop by SFeraKon to get to know the Croatian fandom. To think that all of this started with meetings of several people who were enchanted by a different kind of literature 50 years ago! And people still meet, even if the generations have changed, and that’s something that would be almost unimaginable even in the most utopian speculations of the future, back in its early days.
Isn’t it something for a city to be home to a non-profit organisation of dedicated enthusiasts that has been operating for 50 years? If you care for a slice of SFera, join this year’s SFeraKon. It takes place from 8 to 10 May in the SEECEL building in Zagreb. Or better yet, plan your Zagreb visit for the convention’s 50th anniversary 2 years from now. Meet you there!
By now, you might think that SciFi is a big deal in Croatia. Although some of Croatia's best (and best-selling) contemporary authors indeed write science fiction, fantasy, and similar genres, it seems that the fandom simply makes up for the most dedicated readers in the country, and that’s what makes publishing worthwhile. Their power is not in the numbers so much as in their curiosity. SciFi is still just a scene that you might not even notice exists. In fact, even locals are often unaware of the interconnected, supportive community within the city and across the entire country. But if you’re curious about Croatian speculative fiction, especially Zagreb-based works, we have some tips.
Start with the e-book Kontakt: an Anthology of Croatian SF, with novels by 12 Croatian writers, originally published in 2012 when SFeraKon hosted the European convention.
The first science fiction novels in Croatia are older than any SciFi gatherings. There is some discussion about what would be the first speculative fiction novel in Croatia. You will often find info that it’s Pacific, 2255, written more than 100 years ago by Milan Pl. Šufflay. To be perfectly fair, the novel is complex and complicated; many agree it’s hard to follow and not particularly engaging for a random reader. Which is a shame, because it’s such an interesting look into the author’s utopian visions of a future governed by esoteric knowledge. The Pacific is the spiritual centre of the fourth age of humankind, and the common values come from ancient Eastern wisdom. The novel offers some interesting visions of the future, such as climate changes or genderlessness.
6 years before Pacific, 2255, back in 1918, the Croatian mother of genre fiction, Marija Jurić Zagorka, wrote The Red Ocean. Even if we leave the title of the first novel of the kind to Šufflay, we have to recognise that The Red Ocean has elements of speculative fiction. Its adventure is powered by invisible planes and laser beams, and the visions of the future include the revolution of the red ocean - the working class. The author herself took part in several protests, so the red ocean was more than a lucky guess of what the future, from her point of view, would bring.
Marija Jurić Zagorka speculated about what the future could bring in her literary work The Red Ocean.
How about the movies? The iconic Croatian SciFi movie, Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy (1981), was mostly filmed in Dubrovnik, but not without the help of several Zagreb-based studios. It’s fun to watch the insane movie from this time distance. The Rat Saviour from 1976 blends SciFi and horror into a dystopian atmospheric tale about a rats' takeover. If you watch it, you might recognise Zagreb locations. How could the lively Tkalčićeva street ever contribute to such an anxious atmosphere?
A special mention goes to the Croatian short Slice of Life, created in a garage in Zagreb. The movie absolutely crushed its Kickstarter campaign as an homage to 80s SciFi, made entirely without CGI. The dedication they invested in this movie is unprecedented. They documented all the phases, and you can now enjoy both the movie and its backstage work.
Croatian children grew up watching a cartoon series crafted by the world-renowned Zagreb School of Animation, Professor Baltazar. The inventive professor enriched our childhoods with a fog-vacuum, or a giant vacuum for saving mine-workers, a singing bike that motivates you to lose weight, a flying tram, and a flying hat (that helps you fly), among many other inventions. The real inventors from Zagreb often surpassed their era with their contributions. The invention of švarcoplan, now known as the blimp, by local inventor David Švarc, would fit perfectly into a steampunk setting. Zagreb is home to a memorial room of two Nobel-winning chemists - isn’t that proof of great minds who embraced their visions of the unknown?
In its many layers, Zagreb has enough space for all. The community that enjoys and creates speculative fiction has nested in a welcoming spot where anything is possible, especially if you’re powered by imagination, observance, and an open mind.
Header image credit: Julien Duval / Zagreb Tourist Board
Author: Iva Silla