Baby Lasagna, Bosnian Pot and Summer Teeth mark Tuesday at the Festival, awards to follow, Cannes winner and premiere of the film by Daina Oniunas-Pusić!
ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS AND AWARD CEREMONY
On Wednesday 17 July at 6 p.m. at the Festival Centre, the winners of the Pula PRO programme will be announced and the awards of the Croatian Independent Cinemas Network will be presented. The ceremony of announcing the winners and presenting the Golden Arena Awards will start at 7 p.m. at the Istrian National Theatre, and the winners will bow to the audience at the Arena at 9.30 p.m. Later, the Cannes winner The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, directed by Nebojša Slijepčević, and Tuesday, directed by Daina Oniunas-Pusić will be screened at the Arena.
CONVERSATION WITH THE FILM CREW OF BOSNIAN POT
After last year’s premiere of the film Bosnian Pot at Sarajevo Film Festival, we met the failed writer Faruk who is fighting deportation from Austria at yesterday’s screening at the Istrian National Theatre. “The film has travelled a lot,” said screenwriter and director Pavo Marinković, who spoke about the process of making the film together with actors Senad Bašić and Admir Glamočak and actress Bruna Bebić. “I got the actors I wanted. They accepted and they loved to work,” added the director, whose screenplay was praised by actor Senad Bašić, who also emphasised that Marinković wrote a very good, lively dialogue that glistened, and “when it glistens, we know it is alive,” he added. Actress Bruna Bebić spoke about Senad Bašić giving her great support on set, and she connected to her character Dragica mostly through motherhood and the strength of a woman who is fighting the battle alone and who, in her fight and sacrifice, becomes a pillar for her child, but also her other child, a middle-aged man. Admir Glamočak revealed that the inspiration for his character Mujica came from the stories of immigrants and the grief he felt among the immigrants. Mujica, as Glamočak says, throws himself into his work with every fibre in his body. Although there were a lot of challenges, from the low budget, high fees, and also learning a foreign language, director Marinković says the audience has reacted great to the film, and the viewers in every country want to protect Dragica from the problematic bohmian Faruk.
CONVERSATION WITH THE FILM CREW OF SUMMER TEETH
The morning after the world premiere and a full Arena, the film crew of Summer Teeth, directed by Dražen Žarković, came to the Festival Centre to talk about the film. Actor Momčilo Otašević, actresses Snježana Sinovčić Šiško and Ivana Gulin, as well as producer Ana Grbac participated in the conversation. This film is permeated by comedy and horror, but also romance. Director Dražen Žarković explained that the metaphor of zombies actually reflects the situation in society today. He described the casting process as demanding and unpredictable to the very end, but in the end Momčilo Otašević jumped in as a hero. “For me, the decisive moment was when I liked the way my character developed in the film. Dražen and I decided together to keep the consistency of the character (Vatroslav), not to complicate too much, and for me to stay in character of a brave man as best as possible,” said Otašević. Everyone agreed that the shoot was extremely difficult, but the production was “bloody”, as producer Ana Grbac said. She added that this is film that required postproduction as well, which made the job that much harder, as well as the finishing touches done in a photo finish. Snježana Sinovčić Šiško emphasised that the film had a much deeper meaning that one might think at first. What makes this film special for her is the fact that it can be seen by both children and adults, but with vastly different interpretations. The film is announced to come to cinemas shortly.
HIGH NOON
The sixth and final critics’ duel of the 71st Pula Film Festival, held on Wednesday 17 July at the Festival Centre focused on the films Bosnian Pot, directed by Pavo Marinković, and Summer Teeth, directed by Dražen Žarković. The duel was moderated by Boško Picula and brought together film critics Marko Stojiljković and Krešimir Košutić.
The previous critics’ duels, focusing on the films from the Main Programme, brought together film critics Sandra Perović and Ivan Žaknić (This Is Nota Love Song, N. Marasović, and It All Ends Here, Rajko Grlić); Diana Nenadić and Dragan Jurak (Our Childres, S. Kolbas, and Celebration, B. Anković); Iva Rosandić and Milena Zajović (Frka, S. M. Jelić, and Forever Hold Your Peace, I. Marinović); Zrinka Pavlić and Marijana Jakovljević (The Woman With the Rubber Gloves, M. Šulina and The Holy Family, V. Vorkapić); and Silvestar Mileta and Mića Vučković (Sweet Simona, I. Mirković, and The Wrath of God, K. Milić).
DIGITAL ARCHIVE OF THE PULA FILM FESTIVAL
Pula Film Festival has published a website that makes relevant information about the history of the Festival, its rich tradition, and the development into the event it is today available in one place.
The website is the first phase of a bigger project aiming to digitally preserve historical material and make it publicly available. In that sense, the plan is to periodically complement the website with new material from the archives, including digital material that will bring additional light to the development and impact that Pula Film Festival has had through the decades on the infrastructural, social, and cultural aspect of the city of Pula, and allow visitors complete insight into the roles that the Festival has played. Pula Film Festival’s archive website will be completed in phases due to its scope. The first phase has already been complete, and it is a more extensive edition of the monograph that was published last year. It comprises a list of all screened films, side programmes, archival photographs, as well as newspaper articles and digitalised editions of newer festival catalogues. The website also has a list of all winners of Golden Arenas by category, and by year. The platform is conceived as a timeline that can easily be searched. The next phase will be done in cooperation with the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria – Museo storico e navale dell’Istria, which will take over the festival materials by the end of the year and begin the process of digitalising the material, which will then be published on the website. In the final phase, the intention is to expand the link with the newspaper and archival video material. This is a multi-annual project that will be complemented with new material every year, and we invite the citizens to provide their suggestions, and even material, and participate in creating this important archive website.
DESPICABLE ME 4 AT THE ARENA ON THURSDAY
THUESDAY AT THE FESTIVAL, 18 JULY
4 p.m. • AWARDED FILM • Valli Cinema
6 p.m.• TIME MACHINE • The Dervish and Death, 1974, Zdravko Velimirović • Valli Cinema
8 p.m. • AWARDED FILM • Valli Cinema
9.30 p.m. • POPULAR PULA • Despicable Me 4, 2024, directed by Chris Renaud • Arena
10 p.m. • AWARDED FILM • Valli Cinema
