The programme was presented by festival director Gordana Restović, assistant minister of culture Vladimir Stojsavljević, Maja Weber on behalf of the sponsor Croatian Telecom, and Hrvoje Pukšec, who is, next to Tanja Miličić and Mike Downey, a member of the festival’s Art Council.

The Festival Committee unanimously adopted the programme proposed by the Council. Therefore, this summer in Pula, the Croatian competition features 10 premieres – next to Šuvak’s Happy Endings, Number 55 by Kristijan Milić, The Reaper by Zvonimir Jurić, The Bridge at the End of the World by Branko Ištvančić, Monument to Michael Jackson by Darko Lungulov, The Enchanting Porkers by Ivan Livaković, Walk the Dog by Filip Peruzović, The Wind Blows by Zdravko Mustać, VLOG by Bruno Pavić and Zagreb Cappuccino by Vanja Sviličić – as well as two titles already screened successfully in Croatia and abroad: Lapitch the Little Shoemaker by Silvije Petranović, which had over 140 thousand viewers in home cinemas, and the Slovakian-Czech-Croatian co-production Velvet Terrorists by Peter Kerekres, Pavol Pekarčik and Ivan Ostrochovsky, the Audience Award winner in 64th Berlinale’s Forum section.

A novelty is that national programme’s Golden Arenas will be awarded at the discretion of the international jury consisting of: actress Nataša Dorčić, director Antonio Nuić, editor Ivana Fumić, Bosnian and Herzegovinian producer Amra Bakšić Čamo and film critic with the Hollywood Reporter Nick Holdsworth.

Another 12 entries take part in the Croatian short film selection: Six Half Past Six by Dalija Dozet, Alke by Milan Rukavina and Miroslav Kosanović, The Clean-up by Jasna Nanut, So Not You by Ivan Sikavica, The Chicken by Una Gunjak, Boxed by Nebojša Slijepčević, Separation by Nina Violić, President Nixon’s Present by Igor Šeregi, Next to Me by Marta Prus, Thresholds by Dijana Mlađenović, By Chance by Tanja Golić, and Together by Daniel Kušan.

The side programme features a retrospective of Icelandic director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, who is also an international competition jury member, children’s programme Pulica, a festival novelty Dizalica – film intended for young adult audiences, and Pula Cinematheque – a selection from the festival history by Rajko Grlić. He opted for ‘1965, a year in Pula’s history he finds particularly important’, and the five selected titles will also be screened on Brioni islands.

The Arena of Pula, the largest cinema in Croatia, once again this year brings attractive titles intended for the broadest of audiences on the silver screen, such as 22 Jump Street and the sequel to Pixar’s animated blockbuster Planes.

More information about the rich programme of the 61st Pula Film Festival is available on the official website.

Title photographs: Zagreb Cappuccino, The Bridge at the End of the World, Six Half Past Six, President Nixon’s Present, Velvet Terrorists