Octavijan Miletić (1902-1987) is considered to be the very first film maker of Croat and Yugoslavian cinema. Born in Zagreb of a philosopher father who was also a symbolic figure of Croat theatre, he discovered a passion for cinema very early on. In 1926 he acquired his first amateur camera and early on his films won prizes around the world. Furthermore he was the first Croat film director to go from silent to talking film and made the first Croat feature length film in 1944: Lisinski.

While indulging in experimental cinema, Miletić also liked to parody expressionist films and film genre always giving special attention to aesthetics. This was the case with Nocturno where he experimented with visual effects combined with quick editing and where he re-used the codes of the detective film by including a touch of self-derision. The "B movie" or "ingenious home cinema" aspect could be used to describe his work at that time since he self-produced all his films. Nocturno is part of the collection of amateur films that the film maker donated to the Croatian Cinematheque at the beginning of the 80's. Filmed in 9.5mm (Safety) and blown up on a 35mm film, Nocturno was awarded first prize at the Venice Biennial event in 1936.

After the war, Octavijan Miletić worked as head cameraman only. He finished his life teaching at the Academy of Zagreb and presenting a cinema programme for Television Zagreb.