‘Vjesnik: The Last Edition’ Brings Croatia’s Newspaper Legacy to the Screen

“This is not a story about a building,” Dražen Klarić said before the screening of his documentary at the Vukovar Film Festival. For him, ‘Vjesnik: The Last Edition’ is about the people and the era shaped by the publishing house.

Shown in the amphitheater in front of Vukovar’s water tower, the film looks beyond the fate of the iconic skyscraper that disappeared in a fire. It traces the rise and collapse of what the film presents as the largest publishing house between Vienna and Athens, and a defining symbol of Croatian journalism.

Vjesnik’s publishing system produced newspapers and magazines that marked decades of public life. Its titles included Start, Danas, Arena and Svijet. Erotika reached a circulation of half a million copies. At its height, Vjesnik functioned as more than a media company, serving as a center of journalism, culture and social affairs.

The documentary features memories from people connected to the company, including journalist and publisher Ninoslav Pavić, former Večernji list editors Ružica Cigler and Branko Tuđen, former Vjesnik editor-in-chief Zlatko Herljević, Erotika founder Milivoj Pašiček, and former receptionist Mira Čujić, who worked there for 22 years. Other contributors include academics, writers, musicians and current Večernji list staff.

Klarić co-wrote the script with Petra Balija, Večernji list’s producer and video-content editor. Boris Rašeta, a journalist and writer, served as co-screenwriter. The film was produced entirely by Večernji list, the newspaper that survived the disappearance of Vjesnik’s wider publishing system. At the time of its collapse, Vjesnik owned more than 1,000 apartments and allocated about 100 each year to employees through the housing-rights system.

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This is not a story about a building. It is not only a story about the daily newspaper Vjesnik. It is also about Yugoslavia’s highest-circulation magazine, Start. It is about Erotika, Studio and a whole series of other magazines.