At the Pula Film Festival, the number of viewers increased by 49 percent

After the end of the 70th Pula Film Festival, numbers are added up and impressions are collected. The jubilee edition of Pula took place from July 15 to 23, and the films were shown in five locations - in the Arena, the Valla Cinema, the Istrian National Theatre, Brijuni and Ambrela. 

 

There were a total of 33.612 spectators at the Festival. For the sake of comparison, a year earlier Pula was held in six locations, and the total number of spectators was 22.518. The number of spectators increased by 11.094, and expressed as a percentage, the growth is 49 percent, according to the City of Pula.

 

 

14 films were shown in the Arena during eight evenings, and the total number of spectators for all evenings was 26.973. 

 

The arena was sold out on two occasions - on the first night when, after the official opening of the Festival, 'Hotel Pula' directed by Andrej Korovljev was premiered, on the evening when the Croatian animated film 'The Cricket and the Ant' directed by Luka Rukavina was shown, and the film 'Barbie' in the program Popular Pula.

 

48 viewers watched the films in the Valla cinema in a total of 3.386 times. The Istrian National Theatre, which this year showed films from its Main Program (Croatian films and Croatian minority co-productions), had 1.668 viewers. 

 

The screenings in Brijuni were also well attended - a total of 605 viewers saw the five films shown. On the other hand, the H-15 program was shown at Ambrela, which marked the 15 years of the Croatian Audiovisual Center through contemporary Croatian films, and there were a total of 980 viewers at the seven films.

 

 

Tanja Miličić, director of the Public Institution Pula Film Festival, said that the 70th Pula Film Festival was simply different, special, celebratory, proud, energetic, enthralling, nostalgic, exciting, fun - just the way it deserves to be, loved and respected. 

 

The Home of Croatian Veterans, as a festival center, proved to be a necessary meeting place for filmmakers, journalists, organizers and citizens during the day and after the evening screenings. 

 

"I think we managed to realize one of the better festivals since the founding of Croatia and leave a lasting mark in festival history with the publication of the monograph '70 years of film under the stars'. I am infinitely grateful to Danijel Peko and Mario Kozin for the great program, to my colleagues, collaborators and volunteers who left the impression that they were doing everything with ease despite lack of sleep, high temperatures and an endless series of obligations, to our partners and sponsors and finally to the audience to whom this 70th festival was dedicated and who followed us in large numbers", said Tanja Miličić and added that she was really happy and proud of this year's turnout.

 

 

Artistic director of the Pula Film Festival, Daniel Peck, stated that for the 70th anniversary of the Pula Film Festival, they wanted to show that Croatian cinematography is on the rise, that it is possible to reconnect the audience with Croatian film and that Pula is an important meeting place for all people who make films. 

 

"I believe that we have succeeded in this and that our oldest festival is ready for future editions aimed at the future of the Croatian audiovisual industry. The new programming concept has resulted in more diverse films, a significant increase in the number of viewers and a great experience of the festival and the films shown, which is reflected in extremely high ratings from the audience ranging from 4.09 to 4.83. My personal impression is that Pula is important again, that the films shown and awards are discussed constructively, and that even better years and socializing in Pula are ahead.", said Pek.

 

This was an extremely strong and competitive year in terms of the quality and quantity of Croatian films, he believes Mario Kozina, program selector of the Pula Film Festival.

 

"Looking at the results, the number of tickets sold in the Arena, the coverage of the program in various media, the excellent ratings of the audience ranging from very good to excellent, as well as the interest and discussions caused by individual films, I can only say that I am extremely happy that both the audience and the professional public reacted just as passionately to a truly exceptional film year as we did when we were putting together the program", says Kozina. 

 

With the new concept, he says, they wanted to turn the festival into an important starting point for the distribution of Croatian films, and he hopes that they have succeeded in this. "After the festival, many domestic titles start their summer and autumn distribution and we keep our fingers crossed for them all to reach their audience", adds the program selector of the Pula Film Festival.

 

 

From August 1 to September 5, the Circolo Classic program will be held in Pula, during which 10 titles that marked the festival's history will be shown. A movie screen has been set up on the Circola terrace, and on Tuesdays and Sundays, classics will be watched from the comfortable lounge chairs. 

 

The program begins on Tuesday, August 1 with the film Special Treatment by director Goran Paskaljević, followed by Prekobrojna (dir. B. Bauer), Lito Vilovito (dir. O. Gluščević), Love Case or Tragedy of a PTT Clerk (dir. D. Makavejev), Cherry on Tašmajdan (dir. S. Janković), Gatherers of Feathers (dir. A. Petrović), The Beauty of Vice (dir. Ž. Nikolić), When I'm Dead and White (dir. Ž. Pavlović), The Smell of Field Flowers (dir. S. Karanović) and The strangler against the strangler (dir. S. Šijan). 

 

All screenings start at 21 p.m., and the ticket price is 5 euros per screening. In view of the great interest, and 80 lounge chairs are available for the screening, tickets can be purchased earlier online or by cash payment at the Circola box office one hour before the start of the film. 

 

In case of unfavorable weather, the screenings will be shown in the Valla Cinema at the same time. The program is organized by JU Pula Film Festival and the Community of Italians in Pula, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the County of Istria, the City of Pula, HAVC, the Tourist Board of Pula, while the sponsor of the program is Transcom.