Friday at Pula Film Festival Marked by South Wind and Pavilion 6; Here Is What Saturday Brings
After the opening ceremony of the 72nd Pula Film Festival, marked by an impressive programme at the packed Arena on Thursday, when Damir Urban performed the Croatian and Istrian anthems, and the choir Praksa performed the song Bella Ciao, Friday morning was marked by the screened films – the premiere of South Wind, directed by Ante Marin, at the Arena, and the documentary film Pavilion 6, directed by Goran Dević, at the Istrian National Theatre.
Conversation with the film crew: Pavilion 6
The documentary film Pavilion 6 was screened as part of the opening before the opening at the Istrian National Theatre, and Boško Picula talked to director Goran Dević and producer Hrvoje Osvadić (Petnaesta umjetnost).
“I work at the Academy of Dramatic Art and so I think that the society is paying be to be a comedian,” said Goran Dević when asked about his motivation for this film about the pandemic. “In a turn of events, I had to take my partner’s mother to get her vaccine at the Zagreb Fair, and I was fascinated how capable we are, as a community, when faced with a fear, and how well we react. I recognised the potential of the crowd and with a friendly approach, managed to get people to talk to me,” said Dević, who wrote the screenplay for the film Pavilion 6, the first Croatian film to be acquired by BBC. As Hrvoje Osvadić explained, it happened by chance, in Sarajevo. “The BBC editor was holding a masterclass about the type of documentary films that BBC acquires, and she happened to hear the reactions of the audience to our film that was screened at the hall next door and she loved it.”
Conversation with the film crew: South Wind
The crew of the Split comedy South Wind – director and screenwriter Ante Marin, editor Ivor Šonje, and actor Stojan Matavulj spoke to Boško Picula about their impressions of last night’s world premiere at the Arena on the night of the opening ceremony of the 72nd Pula Film Festival. Marin emphasised that for him, the most interesting part was the mosaic structure of the film, with a lot of characters, which, among other things, shows the complex emotional relationship full of love between a father and son in a humorous way. “I am from Split and I have seen fathers like that – – full of emotions, but not showing it,” said Matavulj. South Wind, Marin’s debut feature, is only the start of the trilogy, with Bura and Bonaca, to follow, and will come to cinemas across Croatia right after Pula Film Festival, on 17 July.
Conversation with the film crew: South Wind
The crew of the Split comedy South Wind – director and screenwriter Ante Marin, editor Ivor Šonje, and actor Stojan Matavulj spoke to Boško Picula about their impressions of last night’s world premiere at the Arena on the night of the opening ceremony of the 72nd Pula Film Festival. Marin emphasised that for him, the most interesting part was the mosaic structure of the film, with a lot of characters, which, among other things, shows the complex emotional relationship full of love between a father and son in a humorous way. “I am from Split and I have seen fathers like that – – full of emotions, but not showing it,” said Matavulj. South Wind, Marin’s debut feature, is only the start of the trilogy, with Bura and Bonaca, to follow, and will come to cinemas across Croatia right after Pula Film Festival, on 17 July.
Critics’ duel High Noon
In the first critics duel of the 72nd Pula Film Festival, film critics Zrinka Pavlić (portal.hr) and Milena Zajović (Večernji list) spoke about the opening films South Wind and Pavilion 6. They gave Pavilion 6 the highest score – a 5 – with Pavlić commenting that it was the best domestic fly-on-the-wall documentary she has seen. They described South Wind as a high-energy film with a great soundtrack by Grše and Toma Bebić. “It is interesting for me to see young authors coming back to punk portrayals of streets they are up on. I am glad that Croatian film is once again focusing on smaller towns,” said Zajović. You can watch the entire conversation on YouTube.
Award of the Filmmakers Association of Croatia presented to Ljubo Šikić
The Award of the Filmmakers Association of Croatia for lifetime contribution to film was presented to renowned film producer Ljubo Šikić by the president of the Association Ksenija Marinković. “When you are recognised by your colleagues, of course you are very pleased. When people remember you when you’re already of certain age, you can’t help but be emotional,” said Šikić when receiving the award at the Festival Centre.
Winners of the film competition within Media Literacy Days announced
Winners of the film competition organised by the Agency for Electronic Media, UNICEF, and Croatian Film Association as part of Media Literacy Days, and this year also Pula Film Festival, have been announced at Valli Cinema. In the elementary school category, the film Šumarak direkt took the win, made by Nola Škrbec, Simona Sermazi, and Mihael Šoštarić from the Foto kino video klub Zaprešić, under the mentorship of Jadranko Lopatić.
The films Krug sumnje by the Film-media Group of the Grohota Elementary School from Volta and Šokantno otkriće of the Družina Reporterske njuške of the Sveta Ana Elementary School in Osijek earned special mention. In the secondary school category, the film Bura took the win, made by Karlo Muškardin and Sanjin Stipić from the Film Group of the Ambroz Haračić Secondary School from Mali Lošinj, under the mentorship of Ružica Dodig. The films Nerealni prikazi ljepote i načina života from the School of Applied Arts and Design from Rijeka and Sintetički sram from the Mechanical Engineering School Varažin received special mention. The awards were presented by actress Tihana Lazović, who is also a member of the main jury of this year’s Pula Film Festival, and TV director Daniel Kušan. The winning films and the films that received special mention were screened after the award ceremony. “Filmmaking by children and youth is an important part of developing media literacy because it encourages creativity, critical thinking, and deeper research of topics that young authors tackle. Therefore, I am very pleased to see such great interest from youth for the film competition within Media Literacy Days, and we are glad to see Pula Film Festival involved and giving such great recognition and encouragement to children and youth to continue exploring, questioning, and creating films,” said Robert Tomljenović, deputy director of the Agency for Electronic Media, on behalf of the organisers of the film competition.
Saturday at Pula Film Festival
The third day of the Festival will start at the Festival Centre at 10 a.m. with 30-minute moderated conversations with film crews from the main competition programme – How Come It Is So Green Out Here?, directed by Nikola Ležaić (minority co-production), Family Therapy, directed by Sonja Prosenc (minority co-production), and Bumblebee’s Summer, directed by Daniel Kušan (Croatian film), and will continue with the High Noon critics’ duel, where film critics and journalists Sandra Perović (RTS) and Jurica Pavličić (Jutarnji list) will comment on the film How Come It Is So Green Out Here? and Bumblebee’s Summer. The presentation of the Vedran Šamanović Award will start at 12.30 p.m.
The evening at the Arena brings the hits Fiume o morte!, directed by Igor Bezinović, from the main competition programme (Croatian film) at 9.15 p.m., and That’s It for Today, directed by Marko Đorđević, from the Regional Programme, at 11.45 p.m. The main programme will also see screenings of the documentary film Peacemaker, directed by Ivan Ramljak (Croatian film, 7 p.m., Istrian National Theatre) and the coming-of-age drama Little Trouble Girls, directed by Urška Djukić (minority co-production, 4 p.m., Valli Cinema), and in the Regional Programme, the romantic comedy by Senad Šahmanović Ponton’s Heart (8 p.m., Valli Cinema).
The day will be concluded by the music programme at the Festival Centre, with the concert by Nipplepeople at 11 p.m.
Tickets for film evenings at the Arena can be purchased online, at the Festival info point at Giardini, and outside the Arena. Entrance to all other programmes is free.
