Rajko Grlić To Open Pula Film Festival and Other Novelties of the 71st Edition

Svjetskom premijerom novog filma redatelja

The world premiere of the new film by director Rajko Grlić, It All Ends Here, will open the 71st edition of Pula Film Festival on 11 July, and the world premiere of the film Summer Teeth, directed by Dražen Žarković, and the screening of the film This Is Not  a Love Song, directed by Nevio Marasović, will serve as the opening before the official opening ceremony at the Arena

Pula Film Festival has completed the main competition programme of Croatian Film and Croatian Minority Co-productions, and with the previously announced films competing for the Golden Arenas, the romantic thriller It All Ends Here, directed by Rajko Grlić, was presented in Zagreb with the film crew. Grlić co-wrote the screenplay with writer Ante Tomić, and Živko Anočić and Jelena Đokić star in the lead roles.

“In 1974, the debut feature by young director Rajko Grlić If It Kills Me was screened at Pula Film Festival, and we are happy and honoured that his latest film will have its world premiere in Pula, and that it will open the 71st Pula Film Festival,” said Pula Film Festival artistic director Danijel Pek

Rajko Grlić

A LOVE STORY IMMERSED IN CROATIAN REALITY

“This film is a love story immersed in Croatian reality, and you know what that reality is like. It is a film that is current, at this very moment and in these very surroundings, and that is why I let Danijel finally convince me, after three months, to have it open Pula Film Festival, and I am very honoured,” said Rajko Grlić. He emphasised that the film was shot at a number of locations in Zagreb and that he was apprehensive of how he would endure filming at his age. “I worked with a small, fantastic crew and the work was done with a lot of joy,” he said. Asked whether this was truly his last film, he said that he had said the same thing for the film Border Post, as well as that he would only make films in the very centre of Zagreb, which he has been doing. “I have always played around with the idea that there is a last film after the last film, so I am giving myself space in that respect. When you wrap a film and wake up the next morning, you think you’ll never gather the strength to do it all over again,” Grlić said. 

Živko Anočić and Jelena Đokić star in the lead roles, with Boris Izaković, Janko Popović Volarić, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, and others in supporting roles.

Mario Kozina, Rajko Grlić, Nataša Buljan, Danijel Pek, Janko Popović Volarić

A SHORTER FESTIVAL, A MORE ABUNDANT PROGRAMME AND AN OPENING BEFORE THE OPENING CEREMONY

“One of the more important novelties of this year’s festival is that it will start on Thursday so that the audience can see as many films on Friday and over the weekend, at both evening and day screenings. The competition programme will have 22 films, of which 11 Croatian films and 11 minority co-productions. There will also be an opening before the opening ceremony – the screening of This Is Not a Love Song, directed by Nevio Marasović, a nice little film that partly takes place in front of the Arena in Pula,” said Danijel Pek.

Actor Janko Popović, who has roles in This Is Not a Love Song and It All Ends Here, attended the presentation of Pula Film Festival in Zagreb. “The screenplay written by Grlić and Ante Tomić was fantastic, and we had a lovely time spending time together, having coffee and doing the rehearsals, and we felt very safe. The filming in general was wonderful. I haven’t seen the film just yet, but I believe it is going to be wonderful as well,” said Janko Popović Volarić, who wrote the screenplay for the film This Is Not a Love Song with director Nevio Marasović and actress Lana Barić. Popović also announced this film as a continuation of sorts of their work together on the film Vis-à-Vis.

Along with world premieres of films by Grlić and Marasović, the comedy Summer Teeth, directed by Dražen Žarković, written by Zoran Lazić, Ivan Turković Krnjak and Maja Todorović, and starring Momčilo Otašević, will also have its world premiere at Pula.

Danijel Pek, Rajko Grlić, Janko Popović Volarić

Main programme – Croatian film (completed programme)

1. Bosnian Pot, directed by Pavo Marinković • 2023 • drama, comedy • Telefilm
2. The Wrath of God, directed by Kristijan Milić • 2024• thriller • Eurofilm d.o.o. WORLD PREMIERE
3. Frka, r directed by Svebor Mihael Jelić • 2024 • thriller, drama, comedy • Oksimoron • WORLD PREMIERE
4. Our Children directed by Silvestar Kolbas • 2024 • documentary •  Factum
5. Celebration, directed by Bruno Anković • 2024 • historical drama • Eclectica CROATIAN PREMIERE
6. Sweet Simona, directed by Igor Mirković • 2024 • erotic drama • Inter film d.o.o.
7. It All Ends Here, directed by Rajko Grlić • 2024 • drama, thriller Inter film d.o.o. • WORLD PREMIERE
8. The Holy Family directed by Vlatka Vorkapić • 2023 • drama • Inter film d.o.o.
9. Summer Teeth, directed by Dražen Žarković • 2024 • comedy • Maxima film WORLD PREMIERE
10. This Is Not a Love Song, directed by Nevio Marasović • 2024 • romance, drama • Šlager film d.o.o. WORLD PREMIERE
11. The Woman With the Rubber Gloves, directed by Mario Šulina • 2023 •  drama • Slavonija Nova

FINALISTS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP AND TV SERIES PITCHING ANNOUNCED

At the same press conference, finalists of the partnership project of Pula Film Festival and United Media – the international workshop for screenplay development and TV series pitching Make the Scene! were also presented. The best project will receive a 10,000 euro prize and an opportunity to develop the project further with United Media. Nataša Buljan, Goran Bogdan and Mišo Mogorović are the members of the jury.

SELECTED PROJECTS

1. Deconstruction (Bulgraia) – Plamena Velkovsky
2. To The Movies! (Bulgaria) – Kristian Stoichev, Boris Rachev and Boris Krastin
3. You Have to Live Somewhere (Croatia) – Sanja Milardović
4. Rainbow (Serbia) – Srđan Anđelić
5. Wonderful (Serbia) – Isidora Veselinović, Katarina Mitrović and Vladimir Tagić
6. Dert (Serbia) – Katarina Krstić

“The screenwriting workshop and Make the scene! pitching is a project we are very proud of, and we are especially honoured that it will see its first edition at Pula Film Festival, which we thank for its partnership and hospitality. The response from creatives across the region has been great, the number of submissions is impressive, as well as the quality and diversity of the projects. This has made the selection process challenging, but will make the final pitching in front of the jury on 17 July in Pula a true creative ceremony. The best among the six finalists will receive a 10,000 euro prize and an opportunity to further develop the project with United Media. Make the scene! is an excellent platform for screenwriters and producers to initiate quality projects, as well as for United Media, a production leader that wants to further encourage and strengthen the region’s creative industry. I am convinced that this project will have many editions in the future and give momentum to many worthy projects, but I am also convinced that we will remember the premiere of the project in Pula forever,” said Nataša Buljan, fiction development director at United Media. Participants will have an opportunity to take part in workshops under the mentorship of Nicos Panayotopoulos, writer and co-writer of numerous awarded screenplays for short films, TV series and feature films (Truants, 1996, My Brother and I, 1998, False Alarm, 2000, The King, 2003, Totally Married, 2003, The Wake, 2006).

Nataša Buljan

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE TV HIT PITCHING PROGRAMME

The call for submissions is currently opened for the TV HIT pitching programme, which will also be a part of this year’s PulaPRO. The call for submissions is open until 14 June for authors and producers of Croatian TV projects in development. Submissions are to be made in Croatian, and it is possible to submit projects of all genres and formats meant for TV. Authors of selected projects will be presented in front of the jury at the pitching on 17 July at the Festival. The application form is available at pulafilmfestival.hr.