– Wind, Talk to Me triumphs among the minority co-productions; The Wedding, 3 Weeks After and God Will Not Help also among the multiple Golden Arena winners
The winners of the Pula Film Festival
The 73rd edition of Pula Film Festival came to a closure with the awards ceremony taking place on Wednesday, 15 July afternoon at Istrian National Theatre. The ceremony was followed by the screening of Vinko Brešan’s How the War Started on My Island, the first Croatian blockbuster since the country gained independence, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
The jury – consisting of Brešan, the filmmaker and festival programmer Ivan Ramljak, editor Hrvoslava Brkušić, producer Tina Hajon and production designer Tanja Lacko – chose the award winners in the Croatian and Croatian minority co-production competitions. On top of the Grand Golden Arena for the best Croatian film, Honey Bunny was also awarded for Best Supporting Sctress (Aleksandra Janković), Best Lead Actress (Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov) and Best Screenplay (penned by Igor Jelinović). The biggest Croatian box office hit of all time, Igor Šeregi’s The Wedding, also scooped four Golden Arenas: for Supporting Actor (Roko Sikavica), Casting, Production (Ivan Kelava and Marko Jocić), as well as the Special Golden Arena for the actress Linda Begonja’s contribution to the ensemble cast.
Technical categories like production design, costume design, as well as VFX were dominated by the film Extraordinary directed by Marina Andrée Škop and Vanda Raymanová. Hana Jušić’s God Will Not Help came on top for best cinematography (Jana Plećaš) and best music categories, while also scooping the Breza award for a debut role in a feature film (Ana Marija Veselčić). Srđan Kovačević’s documentary The Thing to Be Done was awarded for best directing and editing (Klara Šovagović and Damir Čučić), along with the audience award, while Ivona Juka’s Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day was awarded for best make-up and best leading actor (Dado Ćosić).
Stefan Đorđević’s Wind, Talk to Me was awarded for the best Croatian minority co-production and for best cinematography (Marko Brdar). Regarding the number of awards won, the section was dominated by Miroslav Terzić’s 3 Weeks After, which bagged the Golden Arenas for best directing, screenplay and editing, along with the critics’ choice award. Vučić Perović was awarded for his role in Our Father. Ester Ivakič’s Ida Who Sang So Badly Even the Dead Rose Up and Joined Her in Song triumphed in the regional competition, while Jozo Schmuch’s short film Shallow Ground was deemed the best student film.
The Pula Pro industry and the awards of the Croatian Independent Cinemas Network were announced at a separate ceremony.
Here is the full list of awards:
Croatian Film
Grand Golden Arena for Best Film
Honey Bunny – Igor Jelinović (Croatia/Serbia)
Golden Arena for Best Director
Srđan Kovačević – The Thing to Be Done (Croatia/Slovenia/Serbia)
Golden Arena for Best Screenplay
Igor Jelinović – Honey Bunny
Golden Arena for Best Production
Ivan Kelava, Marko Jocić – The Wedding (Croatia/Serbia)
Golden Arena for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov – Honey Bunny
Golden Arena for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Dado Ćosić – Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (Croatia/Poland/Cyprus/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Golden Arena for Best Cinematography
Jana Plećaš – God Will Not Help (Croatia/Italy/Romania/Greece/France/Slovenia)
Golden Arena for Best Editing
Klara Šovagović, Damir Čučić – The Thing to Be Done
Golden Arena for Best Music
Iris Asimakopoulou, Vassilisa Chontosa, Stavros Evangelou – God Will Not Help
Golden Arena for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Aleksandra Janković – Honey Bunny
Golden Arena for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Roko Sikavica – The Wedding
Golden Arena for Best Casting
Igor Šeregi – The Wedding
Golden Arena for Best Production Design
Stefano Katunar – Extraordinary (Croatia/Slovakia/Slovenia/Latvia/Serbia)
Golden Arena for Best Costume Design
Zorana Meić – Extraordinary
Golden Arena for Best Make-up
Ana Bulajić Črček, Goran Ignjatovski – Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day
Golden Arena for Best Sound Design
Olivier Voisin – Petty Thieves (Croatia/France/Germany/Serbia)
Golden Arena for Best Visual Effects
Vanda Raymanová, Michal Struss, Krsto Jaram, Ivana Šebestová, Peter Budinsky, Marek Ježy, Tomaš Danay – Extraordinary
Special Golden Arena for Contribution to Croatian Animation
Arsen Anton Ostojić – The Crystal Planet (Croatia/Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Special Golden Arena for Contribution to Ensemble Cast
Linda Begonja – The Wedding
Breza Award for Best Actress in a Debut Role
Ana Marija Veselčić – God Will Not Help
Croatian Minority Co-Production Competition
Golden Arena for Best Film
Wind, Talk to Me – Stefan Đorđević (Serbia/Croatia/Slovenia)
Golden Arena for Best Director
Miroslav Terzić – 3 Weeks After (Serbia/Luxembourg/Bulgaria/Croatia)
Golden Arena for Best Screenplay
Miroslav Terzić, Vladimir Arsenijević, Bojan Vuletić – 3 Weeks After
Golden Arena for Best Cinematography
Marko Brdar – Wind, Talk to Me
Golden Arena for Best Editing
Marko Ferković – 3 Weeks After
Golden Arena for Best Actor
Vučić Perović – Our Father (Serbia/Italy/Croatia/North Macedonia/Montenegro/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Regional Film Competition
Best Regional Film
Ida Who Sang So Badly Even the Dead Rose Up and Joined Her in Song – Ester Ivakič (Slovenia/Croatia)
Student Film Competition
Shallow Ground – Jozo Schmuch (Croatia, short film)
Other awards
Audience Award
The Thing to Be Done – Srđan Kovačević
Critics Poll Award
3 Weeks Later – Miroslav Terzić
Croatian Independent Cinemas Network Award
Croatian Film Programme
Honey Bunny – Igor Jelinović
Greater Adria Programme
The Black Ball – Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi (Spain/France)
Pula Pro Awards
Work in Progress
1st Prize – €6.000 by Brijuni Rivijera
First Week of August – Filip Mojzeš (Croatia/Poland/Slovenia)
Production: Wolfgang & Dolly, Black Photon, Vertigo
2nd Prize – $10.000 in post-production services by Filmlab AI
Rozalina – Saša Poštić (Croatia)
Production: Blank
Script Your Hit
Main Award – €10.000 by Blitz and Croatian Audiovisual Centre
Luma – Rona Žulj (Croatia)
Adapting a Play into a Feature Film Screenplay
The Title – Petra Pleše, Vanja Jovanović (Croatia)
