First Time on Film is a new programme closely related to Pula PRO professional platform, intended for debutant actors whose first time on film is seen in this year’s festival selection, and will take place on 12 and 13 July. Katarina Madirazza’s workshop Audition as Networking, which will be run by Sanja Drakulić, with mentoring from renowned talent agents Anila Gajević and Timka Grin, will offer participants an opportunity to learn how to prepare for auditions and castings in a quality manner, present themselves to directors and producers in a professional manner, and how to create a compelling self-tape. Other than practical knowledge, the programme will also include participation from renowned foreign film professionals and offer opportunities for direct talks and networking. The programme also includes a media-visible event, where the Festival’s PR office will help participants to present themselves to the public through the media, further strengthening their professional visibility and positioning on the film scene. First Time on Screen provides young actors with a unique opportunity to gain practical knowledge, connect to the industry, and strengthen public presence at a key moment of their careers.
AUDITION AS NETWORKING
Katarina Madirazza, actress and workshop founder
Sanja Drakulić, casting director and host
MENTORS: Timka Grin, Anila Gajević
Sanja Drakulić is a Croatian actress, casting director, and CEO of Duart, the first online platform for connecting film professionals in Southeast Europe, bringing together more than 800 freelancers and around 50 companies. She worked on a number of international projects as casting director, such as The Dark Tower (Amazon), Ibiza (Netflix), The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (Lionsgate), The Weekend Away (Netflix), Faraway (Netflix), Camino (Viaplay), Master and Margarita (Universal), Momo, and Canary Black (Prime Video), which will be released in October. She has been working as a drama teacher for many years (Zagreb Youth Theatre, Luda kuća), and is a member of the European Film Academy.
Katarina Madirazza is a Croatian film, TV, and theatre actress. She studied at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb and Prague Film School. Since 2011, she has been in numerous awarded films, series, and plays, both in Croatia and abroad. In parallel with her career, she founded the Petit Theatre in 2014, where she produced her own projects, and started the well-known Audition as Networking workshop for actors, which will be held at Pula Film Festival for the first time, and the seventh time overall. The concept of this workshop is very unique, and it has been received very well as an excellent opportunity for networking and a place for actors to get roles and expand their knowledge. She is herself an actress and used her knowledge from workshops she attended abroad to create this workshop, combining it with what she thinks is missing from this market – auditions.
Anila Gajević was born in Sarajevo in 1979 where she graduated in Bosnian literature and language. As a former journalist and editor, in 2008 she founded ZONA, the first talent agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina which is today among the leading agencies in Southeastern Europe and beyond. Her agency represents some of the most prominent actors and young talents from the Balkans, but also from Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Spain. As an agent she has represented actors in numerous international projects such as Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The November Man, Snowpiercer, Skyfall, Gomorrah, Game of Thrones, In Order of Disappearance, Cold War, Jack Ryan, Munich Games, etc. Screen International listed her in 2016 as one of the Future Leaders: Agents. In her country she received two awards – Lady Boss and Woman of the Year for entrepreneurship. She is a member of the Association of filmmakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina and European Film Academy.
Born in Sarajevo, Timka Grin had an intense experience of working as a casting director on numerous feature films, shorts and TV series, many of them awarded. Today she is a member of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), European Film Academy (EFA), International Casting Directors Association (ICDA) and Casting Society of America (CSA). She gained the most valuable professional lessons through working with some great directors, just to mention a few: brothers Dardenne, Jean-Luc Godard, Danis Tanovic, Marion Haensel, Ursula Meier, Aida Begic, Marco Bellocchio, Jasmila Zbanic and many others. Timka also owns T.G. Casting working in a region of ex Yugoslavian countries, as well as internationally, for TV and film, for awarded projects and awarded directors, with awarded actors, but also very often looking and discovering new upcoming talents as well as those great quality actors who work but have not been widely seen and discovered as such.
TALENTS
Lucija Alfier
Lucija Alfier (Šibenik, 1997) graduated in acting from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb in the class of Krešimir Dolenčić. She began acting in drama groups on the island of Zlarin under the mentorship of Leon Lučev and Petra Radin. Today, she herself leads drama workshops for children on the island of Zlarin and in Zagreb.
Kristian Bonačić
Kristian Bonačić was born in Zagreb, where he still lives today. He has been acting since early childhood, and the audience remembers him for his role as Zlatko Brnčić in the Koko films (Koko and the Ghosts, The Mysterious Boy, Love or Death). His film and television career includes distinguished roles in the series Newspaper, Videobox and The Last Socialist Artefact, as well as in films Traces, Spot and Apollon Club. Kristian also performed at the Komedija Theatre in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. In addition to acting, he is skilled in boxing, fencing, parkour, chess and juggling.
Stipe Jelaska
Stipe Jelaska (Split, 1996). graduated in acting from the Arts Academy in Split in 2023. During and after his studies, he worked on theatre, film and television projects. He is a member of the Croatian National Theatre Split ensemble.
Tea Ljubešić
Tea Ljubešić (2000) is an acting student at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. During her studies, she achieved notable roles in short and feature films. Films that stand out are the short film Everything Ahead directed by Mate Ugrin, winner of the Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Short Film, and the feature film Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master by Ivan Salatić, screened in the prestigious Tiger competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. For her role in the short film The Lambkin by Martina Marasović, she was awarded the Best Actress Award at the 16th Film Review of the Theatre Academy – FRKA. She also made her debut at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb in the role of Sonja in the play Crime and Punishment directed by Jernej Lorenci. Several professional and student projects in which she participated are currently in post-production and awaiting their premiere.
Franka Mikolaci
Franka Mikolaci (Zagreb, 2006) is a Croatian actress with experience in theatre and film. Franka’s acting career began with the play The Flood (2014-2018) at the &TD Theatre directed by Miran Kurspahić. She made her film debut in the drama Trampoline (2016) directed by Katarina Zrinka Matijević, and her latest project is the film Sandbag Dam (2025) directed by Čejen Černić Čanak. She works in collaboration with production companies Interfilm and Kinorama and develops her acting style through various forms of stage and film expressions.
Lovro Mirth
After graduating from the Secondary Music School in Rijeka, Lovro Mirth enrolled in the Jazz Conservatory in Trieste, where he completed his undergraduate studies, and his graduate studies in Lisbon. During his studies in Trieste, he won the Giovane Promessa award at the Trieste Loves Jazz Festival and opened the festival with his band as the opening act for Cory Henry and the Funk Apostles. Upon his return to Rijeka, he worked as a music therapist at the Care Home for Adults with Mental Disabilities, where he initiated workshops, founded a choir of beneficiaries and participated in the development of the play Kuc Kuc Kabare. He then worked at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka as a prompter, where he developed an interest in theatre and acting. He tested his acting ambitions in several student films and the film Fiume o Morte, which further strengthened his desire for acting. In his solo project, he combines soul and ambient electronic music with elements of queer performance, with which he performed at numerous international festivals.
Domagoj Nižić
Domagoj Nižić (Zagreb, 1998) graduated from the Sarajevo Sports Secondary School and later from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, Department of Acting. He has worked professionally in theatres in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with roles in plays such as Kabanica (NNK Zadar), U posjetu kod gospodina Greena, A Hunger Artist and Dok nas inteligencija ne rastavi. Domagoj is best known for his role of Dražen Petrović in the biographical film Dražen. He has also appeared in the TV series The Hollow, Na rubu pameti, Tender and in the show Your Face Sounds Familiar. He has also worked as a drama teacher for children in Sarajevo and is the founder and director of the Ljubuški Teatar Fest. He lives and works as a freelance artist in Zagreb.
Lav Novosel
Lav Novosel (Zagreb, 2002) is a third-year acting student at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. He has been involved in acting and music since early childhood. He has been noted for his roles as Marko in the film Sandbag Dam (2024) and Ivan in Hotel Pula (2023) and has acted in numerous student films. Lav performed in theatre at ZKM (The Boys of Paul Street) and INK (Lysistrata), and also works as a dubbing actor (Netflix, HBO, Nickelodeon). As a singer and multi-instrumentalist, he performed at the Berklee Summer Program in Valencia and regularly performs at the Kavkaz Café.
Jara Sofija Ostan
Born with a love for art, Jara Sofija Ostan entered the world of music and dance early, attending dance and cello classes at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana. She soon discovered theatre, which sparked her passion for acting. In 2022, after completing primary music school, she enrolled in secondary school at the Conservatory while at the same time attending grammar school. The same year, she got her first theatre role at the St Jacob’s Theatre in Ljubljana in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, where she played Margaret. After a successful year of performances, Jara Sofija became a permanent member of the ensemble. Her acting path also led her to film – at the age of 16, she got the lead role of Lucija in her debut feature film Little Trouble Girls directed by Urška Djukić. The experience of making the film further strengthened her commitment to acting and cinematography.
Mina Švajger
Mina Švajger (Ljubljana, 2000.) completed her graduate studies in acting at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, under the mentorship of Nataša Barbara Gračner and Sebastijan Horvat, during which she received the Severov Award for Student Achievements. She is currently continuing her studies for a master’s degree in artistic expression, under the mentorship of Aleš Valič. Over the last few years, she has established herself as performer on various Slovenian stages and is currently employed by the Ljubljana Drama Theatre. Her first film role was that of Ana-Marija in the feature film Little Trouble Girls by Urška Djukić.
Zdravko Vukelić
Zdravko Vukelić (Split, 1999) graduated in acting from the Arts Academy in Split in 2024. He worked on the plays: Three Sisters, Red Water, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Julius Caesar and Silent Night at the Croatian National Theatre Split, and Antigone at the Croatian National Theatre Šibenik. The play Dalmatian Cuisine won him the award for best acting achievement by a young actor at the Vukovar Actor’s Festival. On television, he currently works on the series The Godfathers (Nova TV), and previously he participated in the series Mrkomir (HRT).
Andrija Žunac
Andrija Žunac (Zagreb, 2001) studies acting at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. He has acted in several films, including Sandbag Dam (2025) screened at the Berlinale and other international festivals, Good Times, Bad Times (2023), and the children’s television dramas The River and Zora. In theatre, he played the lead role in the play Emil and the Detectives at the Zagreb Youth Theatre.
