The heads of Pula Film Festival, festival director Gordana Restović and artistic director Zlatko Vidačković, spoke to the media ahead of the opening of the 67th Pula Film Festival about what to expect in the coming week.

“It was strange for all of us when we were left without the Festival in July, and it was really difficult to organise the Festival in these challenging times, especially because we didn’t know whether it will be held at all”, said Restovć and emphasised that it was extremely important for them to maintain the continuity of the annual festival.

As she said, they met with the representatives of the Civil Protection Headquarters and the Institute for Public Health on Fridays, and they had to give up a lot, but in line with all epidemiological measures, the audience will be able to enjoy at the Arena in Pula this evening.

This year, unfortunately, the Children’s Programme and the International Programme will not be held, and Restović has asked the audience to be understanding, as hopefully next year things will go back to normal.

Vidačković has selected six films for this year’s edition of the Festival, to be screened in competition for the Grand Golden Arena. “These are films with strong female characters, individuals who go against the current of their community and have their own path in life”, he said.

Of the 20 documentary films in this year’s Festival, four will be screened at the Arena. Two documentary films are related to the City of Pula - Disaster: Beach of Mines and Berge Istria, so it will be interesting for the audience to see historical footage of their city, says the artistic director.

Also, this year’s edition of Pula Film Festival will see 10 minority co-productions, and animated and short films. “Of the 10 submitted applications for the main programme, I have selected six; and for the Short Pula Programme, we have received a lot of applications, and I am pleased that they will be presented at our Festival”, said Vidačković, adding that screenings will be held at Valli Cinema and the Istrian National Theatre, as well as the Arena.

“Even though we only have the Croatian Programme this year due to the global circumstances, it is a very rich film programme; and it is often the case that directors from the Short Pula Programme present their work in the main programme in the following years, such as, for example, director Dana Budisavljević”, he said.

Talking about the epidemiological measures, Restović explained that the Arena, which usually seats 5,500 people, will this year seat 1,500 people, who will wear face masks while entering and exiting the Arena, and that they will provide their personal information via an audio recording. To facilitate faster movement of people, there will be five entrances into the Arena. Face masks will not be required once the visitors take their seats.

Audiences will also have to wear face masks to Valli Cinema and the Istrian National Theatre, and personal information will be noted down, as well as the visitors’ body temperature. In case of elevated body temperature, visitors will be able to have their temperature taken two more times. Disinfecting spray will be placed at all entrances.

Restović said that this year, to avoid large crowds, they will not be doing the traditional fireworks display.

The competition programme kicks off this evening with the film Mare, directed by Andrea Štaka, for which Vidačković says is not to heavy and is suitable for wider audiences from an artistic perspective.

Screenings start at 8.30 p.m., and visitors can enter the Arena from 7 p.m.

When asked about this year’s budget and whether it was cut, Restović said that the Ministry of Culture and the Istria County cut the budget by 40% in May, and that some sponsors have backed out of financing, so the “entire Festival was done with half of the budget”.

Vidačković emphasised that they were able to manage with the funds that they had, and that the film programme is attractive nonetheless, but in order to save on funds, they have shortened the Festival by two days.

At the end of the press conference, Restović thanked all the people who have collaborated with the Festival for working with a lot of love and understanding for the situation as a whole despite their decreased fees.