Youthful Frka, laughing at the screening of Forever Hold Your Peace at the Arena, and here are the new scores from the audience and critics!
CONVERSATION WITH THE FILM CREW OF FRKA
Five years after Zagreb Equinox, director Svebor Mihael Jelić returns to Pula Film Festival at the same time and at the same place with his new film Frka, shot on the streets of Osijek. “We were on set at night, as that makes it simpler to make a low-budget film. It is easier to manage lighting and have consistency as nothing changes for eight hours,” said the director who came to the conversation with lead actress Kristina Jovanović and producer, screenwriter and actor in the film Sven Latinović. He created the characters based on his own acquaintances, experiences and aspirations. “I know some people from elementary and secondary school who lived such lives. Some of them were in the role of Petar, some were in the role of Nika, and my character Luka is a dentist because I wanted to become a dentist,” said Latinović. Lead actress Kristina Jovanović accepted the role of Nika because of the male-female friendship that is underrepresented in Croatian films, which “always have a touch of romance”, said Latinović and added: “The message of this film is that we can’t help anyone who doesn’t want help” and praised the director and screenwriter, saying that they work for the project, not for themselves. The crew of Frka consists of around 30 people who came to Pula, bringing joy and youthful energy to the Festival.
CONVERSATION WITH THE FILM CREW OF FOREVER HOLD YOR PEACE
After an evening filled with laughter at the Arena at the screening of Forever Hold Your Peace, we met with the members of the film crew at the Festival Centre – director Ivan Marinović, producer Marija Stojanović, actresses Tihana Lazović Trifunović and Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov, and actors Goran Bogdan and Goran Slavić. Marinović revealed that he was inspired by his own experiences and analysing the question of marriage in the context of traditionalism, mentality, and religion. He added that he started from his own troubles, but that it later turned to an over the top comedy that serves as resistance to those problems. Lead actress Tihana Lazović explained that, even though it is a comedy, the film does delve deeper into the important themes of the position of women in a patriarchy. “I played a serious problem of what it means to be a young person shaped by tradition and family expectations,” she concluded. Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov plays the groom’s mother, who goes through possibly the biggest transformation – she starts out as an antagonist, but transforms into a person with a kind heart; and the actress said she found her way playing the archetypal Mediterranean mother thanks to being a mother like that herself. Forever Hold Your Peace is a co-production of six countries, and the film will go into distribution soon after the Festival.
HIGH NOON
The third critics’ duel, held at the Festival Centre, and focusing on the film Frka by Svebor Mihael Jelić and Forever Hold Your Peace, brought together film critics Iva Rosandić and Milena Zajović. The discussion was further stimulated by ingenious comments from Boško Picula. You can watch all critics’ duels on our YouTube channel.
AUDIENCE SCORE
CRITICS’ SCORE
Along with the expert jury, films from the Main Programme are scored by a part of accredited film critics and journalist from the field of culture, with scores of 1 to 5. We present the critics’ score for the first three days, but with a caveat – at the time of making the ranking list, a par of the scores for the third day had not come in yet, which means that the average score is susceptible to change.
JURY: I’M MORE NERVOUS NOW THAN WHEN I HAD MY FILM HERE
Every evening at the Arena and other festival locations, the five-member jury of Pula Film Festival is diligently watching the 22 films from the Main Programme that it will be deciding on. Here are their first impressions!
PULA PRO TO START
Monday 15 July marks the start of Pula PRO, the industry programme intended for accredited film professionals and journalists. The round table Pula Film Forum: One for all – Croatian film at international festivals will start at 2 p.m. at the Festival Centre. Miljenka Čogelja will moderate the round table, and the participants are Nicola Marzano, film selector and producer, Stefan Ivančić, film selector (Locarno Film Festival, Auteur Film Festival), Irena Jelić, head of the Department of Festivals and Promotion at Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), Katarina Prpić, producer of The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Palme d’Or, Cannes), and Marija Stojanović (Forever Hold Your Peace, Oasis).
A LOT OF INTEREST FOR THE CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME
For a number of years, Pula Film Festival has had a carefully selected programme for the youngest audience members – Pulica, and there was no lack of interest from the children. The films screened were: Casper and Emma: The Golden Ring from Atlantis, directed by Marianne Sand, about children on vacation in Malta when they find a gold ring and try to find its owner; the Swedish animated film Who Are You, Mamma Moo? about a beautiful friendship of the cow Moo and the Crow while Mamma Moo is trying to organise a musical, directed by Christian Ryltenius; and Lars is LOL, directed by Eirik Sæter. In the Popular Pula programme, the film Despicable Me 4 will be screened on 18 July at 9.30 p.m. at the Arena. There is a lot of interest, so get your tickets on time at the INFO Point at Giardini or online.
VEDRAN ŠAMANOVIĆ AWARD PRESENTED TO ANA HUŠMAN
The Vedran Šamanović Award is presented for innovation in film expression, and is named after the late cinematographer and director Vedran Šamanović. This year, the Award was presented to Ana Hušman for her experimental film I Would Rather Be a Stone. The award was presented to Ana Hušman by Vedran Šamanović’s son Martin Šamanonvić. The winner spoke about film being a space of dialogue and connection for her, a space of opening new possibilities, and that that in today’s film, the boundaries named ‘documentary’ and ‘live action’ are becoming merged more and more. Hušman said she is interested in film as a space of work, artistic work and political speech, and thinks of the Vedran Šamanović Award as Vedran’s legacy, because, if he was alive today, a large number of films screened at the Festival would have him as cinematographer.
