With 14 feature-length films and 16 shorts in the main national competition, as well as an international competition with 14 films, the 62nd edition of Pula Film Festival will open its gates July the 18th and closing them the 25th of the same month. Lets have a look at the Croatian Competition Programme, which includes feature and documentary films:

Children of Transition by Matija Vuksic, 2014

Naked Island by Tiha Gudac, 2014

Ungiven by Branko Schmidt, 2015

Love or Death by Daniel Kusan, 2014

Consumed by Borut Separovic, 2014

The Spirits Diary by Damir Cucic, 2015

The Enchanting Porkers by Ivan Livakovic, 2014

These Are the Rules by Ognjen Svilicic (Croatia/France/Serbia/FYROM, 2014)

You Carry Me by Ivona Juka (Croatia/Slovenia/Serbia/Montenegro, 2015)

Zagreb Stories Vol. 3 by Danilo Serbedzija, Vlatka Vorkapic, Ivan Salaj, Radislav Jovanov Gonzo, Petar Oreskovic & Matija Vuksic, 2015

The High Sun by Dalibor Matanic (Croatia/Serbia/Slovenia, 2015)

The Croatian programme, will also present three minority co-productions, We Will Be the World Champions by Darko Bajic (Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia, 2015), Cure - Life of Another by Andrea Staka (Switzerland/Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2014) and Vuk Rcumovic΄s No One΄s Child (Serbia/Croatia, 2014).

The Croatian Competition Jury is comprised of novelist and screenwriter Maurizio Braucci, FilmFestival Cottbus programme director Bernd Buder, stage, screen actor and musician Zlatko Buric, sound designer Srdjan Kurpjel and filmmaker Kristijan Milic.

"There is some excellent work being done in development at HAVC; people are working harder on the screenplays, the bar has been set higher, and work is being done to improve the writing of funded projects. We are looking forward to an excellent crop in 2016 as well” said Mike Downey (producer and Pula artistic board member) commenting 2015 so far for Croatian films.

On the International Competition Programme, we find Balkan films such as The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece/UK/Ireland/Netherlands/France, 2015), Bota by Iris Elezi & Thomas Logoreci (Alania/Italy/Kosovo*, 2014), The Tree by Sonja Prosenc (Slovenia, 2014) and the world premiere of Next To Me by Stevan Filipovic (Serbia, 2015).

The International Competition Jury consists of Olinka Vistica (Croatian producer), Sdjan Dragojevic (Serbian filmmaker) and film journalist Christopher Goodwin. 

Other sidebar events include the youth programme Dizalica, the children programme Pulica, Short Pula (a competition selection of 16 Croatian shorts) and the Short Matters section. 

This year as well, the rich festival history along with Croatian and international film history will be given a significant focus in two exciting programmes, Pula Cinemateque and Retrospective. Pula Cinematheque΄s selection of five, digitized and restored Croatian films from the festival΄s past belongs to filmmaker Rajko Grlic: Carevo novo ruho by Ante Babaja (1961), Crne ptice by Eduard Galic (1967), Lisinski by Oktavijan Miletic (1944), Blue 9 by Kresimir Golik (1950) and Tri Ane by Branko Bauer (1959). 

Retrospective 2015 programme will focus on on the master of make-up Ivana Primorac and her impressive filmography and cooperation with leading names in the world of film: That Summer of White Roses by Rajko Grlic (Yugoslavia, 1989), The War Zone by Tim Roth (UK, 1999), The Hours by Stephen Daldry (UK/USA, 2002), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Tim Burton (UK/USA, 2007) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Stephen Daldry (USA, 2011).

Besides the film sections, PULA PROfessional, the festival΄s industry section, will gather film professionals and students of audiovisual activities for programmes such as the Young Cinephiles Critics, themed lectures and round tables, a new Student Programme and more. The focus of this year΄s programme is scenography, with lectures by renowned European and Croatian set designers and film professionals.