21-07-2024

Celebration Wins Big at 2024 Pula Film Festival

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    Celebration Wins Big at 2024 Pula Film Festival credit: Pula FF

    PULA: The debut feature Celebration / Proslava directed by Bruno Anković won four Arena awards at the 71st Pula Film Festival (11 – 18 July 2024), including the Grand Golden Arena for the best film in the Croatian competition.

    Apart from the official awards, Celebration also won the distribution award issued by the Croatian Independent Cinemas Network.

    The Golden Arena for best minority coproduction was awarded to Housekeeping for Beginners / Domakinstvo za pocetnici directed by Goran Stolevski, a coproduction between North Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo.

    This year, four pitching sessions took place within Pula Pro, the industry segment of the festival: Work in Progress (aimed at Croatian and Croatian minority feature projects in postproduction); Script Your Hit (aimed at developing screenplays for Croatian feature films successfully combining authorial and commercial sensibilities); Make the Scene! (the first international pitching at Pula Film Festival, aimed at developing TV screenplays, presented in cooperation with the media company United Media); and TV HIT (aimed at developing Croatian TV projects).

    Pula Pro also hosted two round tables (One for all – Croatian film at international festivals; Is there life after the premiere?) and the panel The Price of Passion, which took place within the Pula Film Forum.

    FULL LIST OF WINNERS

    Croatian Competition:

    Grand Golden Arena for the Best Croatian Film:
    Celebration / Proslava (Croatia, Qatar)
    Directed by Bruno Anković
    Produced by Electica
    Coproduced by Pakt Media (Slovenia*)
    Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Doha Film Institute
    *with Slovenian contribution being less than 5% of the total budget, the film is officially a Croatian coproduction with Qatar

    Golden Arena for the Best Director:
    Silvestar Kolbas for Our Children / Naša djeca (Croatia)
    Produced by Factum
    Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre

    Golden Arena for the Best Screenplay:
    Jelena Paljan for Celebration / Proslava (Croatia, Qatar)
    Directed by Bruno Anković

    Golden Arena for the Best Leading Actress:
    Lana Barić in This Is Not a Love Song / Šlager (Croatia)
    Directed by Nevio Marasović
    Produced by Šlager film
    Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre

    Golden Arena for the Best Leading Actor:
    Bernard Tomić in Celebration / Proslava (Croatia, Qatar)
    Directed by Bruno Anković

    Golden Arena for the Best Cinematography:
    Aleksandar Pavlović for Celebration / Proslava (Croatia, Qatar)
    Directed by Bruno Anković

    Golden Arena for the Best Editing:
    Denis Golenja for Our Children / Naša djeca (Croatia)
    Directed by Silvestar Kolbas

    Breza Award for the Best Debut Performance:
    Luna Pilić in Holy Family / Sveta obitelj (Croatia, Serbia)
    Directed by Vlatka Vorkapić
    Produced by Inter Film
    Coproduced by Zillion Film
    Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center Serbia

    Golden Arena for the Best Supporting Actress:
    Judita Franković Brdar in Holy Family / Sveta obitelj (Croatia, Serbia)
    Directed by Vlatka Vorkapić

    Golden Arena for the Best Supporting Actor:
    Boris Isaković in It All Ends Here / Svemu dođe kraj (Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Turkey)
    Directed by Rajko Grlić
    Produced by Inter film
    Coproduced by RRF International, West End Production, ABHO Film, Veda Film, Oktavijan, Saudade
    Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center Serbia, the Film Centre of Montenegro, the Sarajevo Film Fund, the North Macedonia Film Agency

    Golden Arena for the Best Sound Design:
    Luka Gamulin and Tihomir Vrbanec for Sweet Simona / Slatka Simona (Croatia)
    Directed by Igor Mirković
    Produced by Interfilm
    Supportedby the Croatian Audiovisual Centre

    Golden Arena for the Best Makeup:
    Ana Bulajić Črček for The Wrath of God / Božji gnjev (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
    Directed by Kristijan Milić  
    Produced by Eurofilm
    Coproduced by Oktavijan Film
    Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Sarajevo Film Fund

    Golden Arena for the Best Special Effects:
    Petar Novaković for The Wrath of God / Božji gnjev (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
    Directed by Kristijan Milić  

    Golden Arena for the Best Visual Effects:
    Krsta Jaram for Salsa / Šalša (Croatia)
    Directed by Dražen Žarković
    Produced by Maxima Film
    Coproduced by Nomad Film
    Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre

    Golden Arena for the Best Original Music:
    Alen Sinkauz and Nenad Sinkauz for This Is Not a Love Song / Šlager (Croatia)
    Directed by Nevio Marasović

    Golden Arena for the Best Costume Design:
    Ivana Zozola Vargović for Holy Family / Sveta obitelj (Croatia, Serbia)
    Directed by Vlatka Vorkapić

    Golden Arena for the Best Production Design:
    Željka Burić for the It All Ends Here / Svemu dođe kraj (Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey)
    Directed by Rajko Grlić

    Croatian Independent Cinemas Network Distribution Award:
    Celebration / Proslava (Croatia, Qatar)
    Directedby Bruno Anković

    Croatian Minority Coproduction Competition:

    Golden Arena for the Best Minority Coproduction:
    Housekeeping for Beginners / Domakinstvo za pocetnici (North Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo)
    Directed by Goran Stolevski
    Produced by List Production, Madants, Kinorama, Sense Production, Industria Film
    Coproduced by Film I Väst, CommonGround Pictures and Causeway Films, in association with Tango, New Europe Film Sales, the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund
    Supported by the North Macedonia Film Agency, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center Serbia, the Polish Film Institute, the Kosovo Cinematography Center

    Golden Arena for the Best Leading Actress in a Croatian Minority Coproduction:
    Ilinca Manolache in Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World / Nu aștepta prea mult de la sfârșitul lumii (Romania, Luxembourg, France, Croatia)
    Directed by Radu Jude
    Produced by 4Proof Film, microFILM
    Coproduced by Paul Thiltges Distributions, Les Films d’Ici and Kinorama, in association with Bord Cadre Films (Switzerland) and Sovereign Films (UK)
    Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), the Film Fund Luxembourg, Eurimages, Arte Cofinova/19 and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, as well as Cineplexx România, EssenceMediacom and the Romanian Public Television

    Golden Arena for the Best Leading Actor in a Croatian Minority Coproduction:
    Leon Lučev in Working Class Goes to Hell / Radnička klasa ide u pakao (Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania)
    Directed by Mladen Đorđević
    Produced by Banda, Sense Production
    Coproduced by Agitprop, Homemade Films, Adriatic Western, Kinorama, Tangaj Production, Cinnamon Films
    Supported by Film Center Serbia, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Greek Film Centre, the Film Centre of Montenegro, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Eurimages

    Golden Arena for Best Supporting Actor in a Croatian Minority Coproduction:
    Vladimir Tintor in Housekeeping for Beginners / Domakinstvo za pocetnici (North Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo)
    Directed by Goran Stolevski 

    Special Mention for Supporting Actor in a Croatian Minority Coproduction:
    Duško Valentić (posthumously) in Lost Country (Serbia, France, Luxembourg, Croatia)
    Directed by Vladimir Perisić
    Produced by Easy Riders Films, Trilema, KinoElektron
    Coproduced by Red Lion, Kinorama
    Supported by Film Center Serbia, CNC, Arte France Cinema, the Luxembourg Film Fund, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre

    Audience Award:
    Holy Family / Sveta obitelj (Croatia, Serbia)
    Directed by Vlatka Vorkapić

    Pula Pro Awards:

    Work in Progress Winners:

    Cash Prize for a Film in Production (6,000 EUR by Brijuni Riviera):
    Good Children / Dobra djeca (Croatia)
    Directed by Filip Peruzović
    Produced by Dinaridi film

    Postproduction services (in the amount of 10,000 EUR by Sleepwalker):
    No Offence / Bez zamjere (Croatia)
    Directed by Lucija Marčec
    Produced by the Academy of Dramatic Arts

    Postproduction services (in the amount of 3,000 EUR by Teleking):
    People in My House / Ljudi u mojoj kući (Croatia)
    Directed by Tatjana Božić
    Produced by Lewa Productions

    Script Your Hit Winners:

    Cash Prize in the amount of 10,000 EUR by Blitz and Croatian Audiovisual Centre:
    Project Palm (Croatia)
    Written by Daria Stilin

    Special Mention:
    The Rooster that Fell from the Sky (Croatia)
    Written by Višnja Skorin, Dijana Merdanović

    Make The Scene! Winner:
    Dert (Croatia)
    Written by Katarina Krstić, Andrijana Zukić

    TV Hit Winner:
    A Fistful of Nothing (Croatia)
    Directed by Jasna Nanut