On Wednesday, 22 April 2026 at 6:00 p.m., the first event organised by the newly established Film Club of the Centre for Popular Culture (CePoK) at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek was held. The honour of being screened as the first in a series of cult and particularly significant films went to Casablanca (dir. Michael Curtiz), the 1942 American classic. Casablanca is a masterpiece of classical Hollywood and one of the most popular films about the Second World War, created in the tense atmosphere following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The screening was introduced by Asst. Prof. Luka Pejić, PhD, and student Dominik Aščić.
At the centre of the story is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical nightclub owner faced with a choice between personal happiness and the fight against fascism. The film combines romance, comedy and political drama while warning that neutrality becomes increasingly difficult to sustain in wartime circumstances. Winner of three Academy Awards (for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay), Casablanca is a layered cinematic work that, in addition to portraying the fate of the individual in the context of the eternal search for love, loyalty and friendship, also explores the social forces that shape global events. Rick’s American bar (Rick’s Café Américain) functions as a place where ideology and money intersect and, in addition to being a site of resistance, rises to the level of a symbol of American economic interests which, under the banner of anti-fascist, later anti-communist and ultimately anti-terrorist ideology, became the driving force behind future American wars.
The activities of the Film Club, which in addition to film screenings will include lectures, panel discussions and presentations of books on film, are intended not only as an extension of CePoK’s research and popularisation activities, but also as a form of educational enrichment of the teaching process at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. For many years, Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD, has taught the course Literature and Film at the Department of English Language and Literature, while Asst. Prof. Luka Pejić, PhD, teaches the course History of Film at the Department of History. At the Film Club, students will have the opportunity to watch important films in a somewhat more informal setting and broaden the knowledge acquired during their studies. Although these activities are educational and popularising in nature and are primarily intended for students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, admission is free for all interested visitors. At the end of May, the Film Club will present Blade Runner (1982, dir. Ridley Scott) to the audience.