The Ship 

Brod / The Ship 

Elvis Lenić, Croatia, 2023, 65’ 

A documentary about the famous Pula shipyard Uljanik and its 20th century heyday, featuring interviews with former workers and fellow passengers.   

The famous Pula shipyard Uljanik was built in the mid-19th century, during the Habsburg Empire. Its golden period came in the 20th century, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, when the largest and most complex vessels were built. Then came the Croatian transition – the privatisation and plundering of state assets; and Uljanik slowly but surely fell into decay. Today, it resembles more a scrap yard than a shipyard, with sleeping cranes and stray cats as mute observers of its former glory, related in the film by its former workers. 

“My father devoted his entire working life to the Uljanik shipyard. So did my uncle. My brother worked there for twenty years. I also worked there. My family was very connected to the shipyard, and I had to say a symbolic goodbye. This farewell was very important to me – otherwise I would not have made this film. This place had a great importance for all the inhabitants of Pula. Uljanik was our pride and part of our collective identity.” – Elvis Lenić 

Elvis Lenić (1971) graduated in mechanical engineering from the Faculty of Engineering in Rijeka. He worked at the Uljanik shipyard for a while, and now teaches mechanical engineering at the Technical School in Pula. He is a resident film critic at Glas Istre and occasionally writes for the Croatian Film Chronicle. He has directed a number of short and mid-length documentary films. His latest documentary, The Ship (2023), has been selected at Jihlava IDFF 2023.  

In collaboration with Vodikova domačija and the Adriatic Wave Festival.