63rd Pula Film Festival Programme Announced

Pula Film Festival (photo credit: Matija Šćulec)

The 63rd edition of Croatia’s oldest film festival – Pula Film Festival – will be held this year from 9-16 July at Pula’s famous Arena Roman amphitheater…

The Croatian and international programme at this year’s festival was announced this week. Applications from Croatian film makers marked a record 105 films of which: 31 feature film (19 movies Croatia and 12 movies minority productions) and 74 short films (47 Croatian films, 5 movies minority productions and 22 student films) for the Croatian programme.

The festival will screen 16 feature-length (7 in the competition, 3 out of competition, 6 minority co-productions) and 18 short (17 in the competition, 1 minority co-production) films, making up the Croatian programme, and 16 international (12 competition and 4 out of competition).

Apart from the current Croatian and international films, this year’s Pula Film Festival also offers the best films from the recent Croatian history.

“It is not difficult to announce the 63rd Pula Film Festival: the audience and professionals can expect to see the best of Croatian film – the best recent feature films, the best new short films but also the best Croatian feature films made in the past 25 years. However, not only Croatian films deserve to be described in such a superlative fashion because our international programmes can boast of exquisite films as well. The Artistic Board selected them at most relevant world festivals and we also managed to find some less vaunted but excellent cinematic achievements,” Hrvoje Pukšec, president of the Artistic Board said.

CROATIAN PROGRAMME – FEATURE LENGTH FILMS:
films selected for the programmes Croatian Film and Minority Co-production:

Generation ’68, Nenad Puhovski
Ministry of Love, Pavo Marinković
Shooting Stars, Ivan-Goran Vitez
On the Other Side, Zrinko Ogresta
All the Best, Snježana Tribuson
Confusions, Lana Kosovac
Trampoline, Katarina Zrinka Matijević

Out of competition:
The Blue Cage, Bruna Bajić
Life is a Trumpet, Antonio Nuić
The Liberation of Skopje, Rade Šerbedžija and Danilo Šerbedžija

Minority co-productions:
A Good Wife, Mirjana Karanović
Full Contact, David Verbeek
Houston, We Have a Problem!, Žiga Virc
Lazar, Svetozar Ristovski
Interruption, Yorgos Zois
Sparrows, Rúnar Rúnarsson

CROATIAN PROGRAM – SHORT FILMS
short films selected for the Short Pula Programme:

Belladonna, Dubravka Turić
Flowers, Judita Gamulin
Girls, Luka Galešić
Fantastic, Ivan Sikavica
Voicemail, Leo Vitasović
Hana, Hana, Honey, Marko Bičanić and Karlo Vorih
Playing the Tiger, Jasna Nanut
Two of Us, Andrija Mardešić
Sunday, Goran Dević
Somewhere, Katarina Radetić
Picnic, Jure Pavlović
Half a Man, Kristina Kumrić
White Room Stories, Silva Ćapin
Thin Air, Šimun Šitum
Walker, Filip Mojzeš
Admit It, Luka Čurčić
The Beast, Daina Oniunas Pusić

Minority co-productions:
Recent Places, Matej Ugrin

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME
Feature films selected for the International Competition Programme:

Aloys, Tobias Nölle, Switzerland (Berlinale Panorama – FIPRESCI award)
Between Sea and Land, Carlos del Castillo, Columbia (Sundance Film Festival – Audience Award, Special Jury Prize)
Chevalier, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece (London, Cartagena, Thessaloniki – Best Film)
Evolution, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, France (San Sebastián – Best Cinematography, Special Jury Prize)
Illegitimate, Adrian Sitaru, Romania (Berlinale – C.I.C.A.E. award)
Kaili Blues, Gan Bi, Kina (Locarno – Best Emerging Director, Best First Feature – Special Mention)
Mammal, Rebecca Daly, Ireland (Sundance Film Festival)
Mountain, Yaëlle Kayam, Israel (Venice, San Francisco, Göteborg)
The Dreamed Ones, Ruth Beckermann, Austria (Austria Diagonale – Best Film)
The Yard, Måns Månsson, Sweden (Göteborg – Lorens Award)
Things to Come, Mia Hansen-Love, France (Berlinale – Silver Bear, Best Director)

out of competition:
Chronic, Michel Franco, Mexico (Cannes Film Festival – Best Screenplay)
Planet Single, Mitja Okorn, Poland
Independence Day: Resurgence, Roland Emmerich, USA
Ice Age: Collision Course, Mike Thurmeier and Galen T. Chu, USA
Ghostbusters, Paul Feig, USA

The International Programme comprises competition and out-of-competition sections, youth programme Dizalica and children’s programme Pulica.

DIZALICA
In Your Dreams!, Petr Oukropec, Czech Republic (Berlinale)
Girl Asleep, Rosemary Myers, Australia (Berlinale, Buenos Aires, Seattle)
Landfill Harmonic, Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley, Paraguay (Thessaloniki, SXSW,… – around ten audience awards)
Family Film, Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic (LIFF – FIPRESCI award, Plzen – Best Film)
Girls Lost, Aleksandra-Therese Keining, Finland (Antalya – Best Screenplay)

PULICA
Ballet Boys, Kenneth Elvebakk, Norway (São Paolo, Montreal, Chicago)
De Boskampi’s, Arne Toonen, Netherlands (Seoul, Hamburg, Cinekid – Best Film)
Lilly and the Magic Pearl, Anri Koulev, Bulgaria
The Little Mountain Boy, Xavier Koller, Switzerland (Swiss Film Prize – Best Cinematography)
The Prophet, Roger Allers, USA (Toronto, Jerusalem; Annie and Satellite Award nominations)
When Marnie Was There, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Japan (Oscar and Annie nominations)

CINEMATEQUE
What Iva Recorded on October 21st, 2003, Tomislav Radić (Grand Golden Arena and 3 Golden Arenas)
Celestial Body, Lukas Nola (4 Golden Arenas)
The Blacks, Goran Dević and Zvonimir Jurić (3 Golden Arenas)
Fine Dead Girls, Dalibor Matanić (Grand Golden Arena and 5 Golden Arenas)
The Reaper, Zvonimir Jurić (3 Golden Arenas)
Metastases, Branko Schmidt (Grand Golden Arena and 2 Golden Arenas)
The High Sun, Dalibor Matanić (Grand Golden Arena and 5 Golden Arenas)

Check out more details about the programme and the festival on the official website.