Halfway Through the Festival: Small Things in the Lead with Critics, The Wedding Still the Audience’s Favourite
The films Small Things, Honey Bunny, Yugo Goes to America and Our Father in the Main Programme marked Saturday evening and Sunday’s conversations at Pula Film Festival. Halfway through the Festival week, these are the critics’ and audience scores – Igor Šeregi’s The Wedding is still in the lead with the audience, and Zvonimir Jurić’s Small Things is in the lead with the critics. Here are the films that will be screened on Monday, as well as an invitation for Pula Film Forum
The film Small Things, directed by Zvonimir Jurić, had its premiere on Saturday at the Istrian National Theatre at Pula Film Festival. The following morning, the director and crew spoke at the Festival Centre. “When you live in Dalmatia, you are surrounded with stories like that. It is not unusual to have so many films on that topic,” said producer Jurica Pavičić. The film follows three children, three completely different characters with different life stories. “The character of Ivan was the gentle, warm centre. He allowed me to think about the rest of the family,” said director Zvonimir Jurić, and added that the characters of the two sisters were inspired by his mother and her sister. The film is coming to Croatian cinemas in late November.
The film Honey Bunny, written and directed by Igor Jelinović, was screened on Saturday evening at the Arena. “It is a story from my life,” said Jelinović and explained that his own anger shaped the dynamics among the characters. Aleksandra Janković agreed: “There is no great fallout without great love, no great passion without great love.” Cinematographer Marko Jerbić explained that the idea was for the camera to be a character of sorts, a character watching from the sidelines. “A character who doesn’t see doesn’t announce the plot,” said Jerbić. Actress Snježana Sinovčić described how she sees her role and emphasised that she doesn’t see any of the characters as fictional: “My role was not fictional for me, as she is so dedicated to her family.” Producer Rea Rajčić spoke about the challenges they faced on set: “Filming in Split always has its challenges. Not only in terms of costs, but also in terms of the struggle with the mentality,” said Rajčić and noted she actually comes from Split.
The film Yugo Goes to America was screened on Saturday at Valli Cinema. Director Filip Gajić thanked the audience for a large turnout and said that youthful desire for a great adventure was the motivation for the film. Producer Čarna Vučinić spoke about the financing process: “The first funds came from a private network, and soon after from Film Centre Serbia, which was in operation at the time, and in the end we had Vanja Jambrović come on with support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.” Coproducer Vanja Jambrović spoke about her experience on the film, as well as comments from the audience: “This is not a typical documentary film at all. Whoever saw it, said that it is something completely different.” At the end, director Aleksa Borković revealed that he had never been to America prior to making the film and spoke about how it affected him: “All of it was so new to me, and it was easy to observe and record the things I saw for the first time.”
The film Our Father had its regional premiere on Saturday at the Arena. “In terms of film language, I think the rule ‘show, don’t tell’ applies. I followed my intuition in casting actors who can communicate the most subtle emotions in that manner,” said director Goran Stanković about the intense work with the cast. Actor Goran Marković spoke about his approach and understanding of his role. “He urges us to, if we play a certain role, find the character’s deep conviction of why they are doing something. Our work is empathetic, if we want to do it right, all the way.” Speaking about the ambivalence of his character, Boris Isaković said: “I’ve never had to play this type of bipolar disorder. Last night, it was confirmed that it was exactly that that intrigued people.”
HIGH NOON CRITICS’ DUEL
PULA FILM FESTIVAL’S SUPPORT FOR VLADIMIR ARSENIJEVIĆ
Pula Film Festival expresses its support to author and screenwriter Vladimir Arsenijević following the attack on him in Belgrade, and condemns any form of violence and intimidation directed towards artists and all those who stand for dialogue, freedom of expression, and culture of remembrance.
We would like to invite the audience to show their support by coming to the screenings of the film Three Weeks After, directed by Miroslav Terzić and co-written by Vladimir Arsenijević. The film will be screened on Monday, 13 July at 7 p.m., and on Thursday, 14 July at 12 p.m. at the Istrian National Theatre. After all, the film speaks about violence and its devastating consequences, reminding us of the importance of recognising violence, condemning it, and not agreeing to silence.
ANNOUNCING MONDAY’S MAIN PROGRAMME
CONVERSATIONS WITH FILM CREWS ON MONDAY, 13 JULY AT THE FESTIVAL CENTRE
10 a.m. THE THING TO BE DONE
10:30 a.m. WHITE WASH AT NINETY
11 a.m. EXTRAORDINARY
PULA PRO: MONDAY MARKED BY PULA FILM FORUM
The panel AI in Film – Challenges and Advantages will be held at 12 p.m. on Monday at the Archeological Museum of Istria (Carrarina 3 – entrance by the Double Doors) as part of Pula Film Forum. The panelists are Dario Bojanjac, PhD, associate professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb, Igor Gliha, PhD, full professor of the School of Law at the University of Zagreb, Jasna Nanut, film director and president of the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild, and Chris Marcich, CEO of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre. The discussion will focus on the topics of the possibilities AI can bring to film and audiovisual production across all phases of development to postproduction, as well as a number of current issues relating to authorship, copyright, ethical challenges, and the position of film authors and creative workers in the context of rapid development of AI technology.
At 5 p.m., screenwriter Ljubica Luković will give the lecture Children’s Film – Investment in the Future. Ljubica Luković is one of the most respected screenwriters (How I Learned to Fly) and the most sought-after script consultant in the genre and beyond. The lecture will focus on the specific characteristics, formal framework, and requirements for children’s film, followed by a discussion with the audience about the situation in children’s film in the region. The goal of the conversation is to change the perspective on children’s film and inspire authors who have not yet done children’s film, as investing in children’s film is investing not only in future audiences, but in the society we want to live in.
