Croatia’s national event Pula Film Festival will for the first time accept minority co-productions for awards consideration, in a separate competition category.

The 57th Pula Film Festival, which will take place from July 17-24, will present seven films in the principal national competition, out of which six will be shown for the first time. Among these, three are films by newcomers: the opening sci-fi drama The Show Must Go On by Nevio Marasovic, action caper Forest Creatures by Ivan Goran Vitez, and dark comedy 72 Days by Danilo Serbedzija. Well-known directors Dalibor Matanic and Ognjen Svilicic are coming back with Mother Of Asphalt and 2 Sunny Days respectively, and Dani Oki will show his HD feature The Performance. The line-up is rounded up by veteran Rajko Grlic’s romance drama Just Between Us, which has sold more than 16,000 admissions in the territory and heads for international premiere in competition of Karlovy Vary.

The minority co-productions competition includes multilateral co-productions with the Croatian share of more than 10%, as well as bilateral co-productions with the Croatian share of more than 20%. The selection features Jasmila Zbanic’s Berlin entry On The Path, omnibus Some Other Stories directed by five women from five countries of former Yugoslavia which recently premiered at Taormina, and Bosnia’s The Abandoned by Adis Bakrac. These three titles will compete for up to three Golden Arena awards in the same categories as films in the main competition, which range from best film to best actors, production design, editing and special effects, out of the total of 15 Arenas, plus audience and critics’ prizes.

Films in international programme will compete for Golden Arenas for best film, director, and achievement in acting; and for critics’ prize, audience award and award of young cinephiles. The programme includes Tom Ford’s A Single Man, Saul Dibb’s The Duchess, Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Pavel Lungin’s Tsar, Neil Jordan’s Ondine, James Ivory’s The City Of Your Final Destination, Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess Of Montpensier, Nicolo Donato’s Brotherhood, Igor Sterk’s 9:06, Damir Lukacevic’s Transfer, Quanan Wang’s Apart Together, Pou-Soi Cheang’s Accident, Vladimir Drha’s English Strawberries, Michele Placido’s The Big Dream, and Pascal-Alex Vincent’s Give Me Your Hand.

Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore will enjoy an retrospective of six films, from The Professor to Baaria.

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