One of the oldest film festivals in Europe, the Pula Film Festival, was first inaugurated as an international film festival in 1953. on the initiative of Mr. Marijan Rotar. It was the main film event in Yugoslavia from 1954. to its disintegration.

Numerous journalists and film artists from the country and abroad including stars like Orson Welles, Sophia Loren, Sam Peckinpah, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Yul Brinner and others visited the Festival.

From 1992. Pula hosted the Croatian film festival and 2001. it again acquired the status of an international festival with awards for best foreign films. Many Croatian award winners from the Pula Film Festival  were very successful at foreign festivals: Tu, Maršal, Svjedoci, Ta divna splitska noć, Fine mrtve djevojke, Put lubenica... During the last fifteen years the Festival has attracted many foreign visitors among whom the stars like John Malkovich, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kinglsey, Jeremy Irons, producer Branko Lustig and directors Philip Noyce and Jiri Menzel.

Vespasian's Arena, which has been hosting the festival since its beginnings, has given it the status of one of the three biggest and most spectacular open-air festivals in Europe. It can seats up to 8000 visitors at the screenings under the starry sky.

Zlatna Arena (The Golden Arena, work of Dimitrije Popović) is traditionally awarded at the festival. A number of other official awards will be granted at the Festival.