The institutionalized child as a precondition for the healthy nation in the films of Mladen Širola

This chapter examines three films by Mladen Širola, Pomoć u pravi čas (Help at the right time, 1930), Zapušteno dijete (Neglected child, 1930) and Spas male Zorice (Rescue young Zorka, 1931). These very first feature-length health films produced at the School of Public Health in Zagreb turned the incredible popularity of The kid toward the aim of promoting institutions providing for the welfare of children. They focus specifically on residential care as the only suitable option, in contrast to unreliable care from the side of asocial caregivers, whether biological or substitute parents. The variety of approaches to providing care for children presented in the films is interpreted in the context of various initiatives aimed at institutionalizing children.