Pula Film Festival

The Pula Film Festival is one of the oldest continuous film festivals in Europe and the world. It was launched in 1953 as the central festival of Yugoslav film, and since 1992 it has been the national Croatian film festival. Its trademark is the Pula Arena, where movies are watched under the stars.

The first film screening in the Pula Arena was held way back in 1938, but due to political events, the event was somewhat hidden from the public. Officially, the period of the Pula Film Festival begins with Marijan Rotar, who in 1953 was aimed of awakening the cultural scene of Pula.

Although Rotar encountered a lot of resistance in those old days due to the technical conditions in the Arena, the review of 4 Hollywood films, 4 non-American films and 9 cartoons was successfully held. From then until today, many well-known and lesser-known films have been shown through the Pula Arena. The popularity of the Pula Film Festival grows year by year.

Today, it is the most visited cultural event in Croatia, with more than 73,000 spectators during a series of festival events. Festival programs are regularly held in a number of city locations and capture the attention of big audience.

The competitive part of the program includes locally produced films, feature-length and short-length, which are most often shown as premieres, as well as an international program, a program for children, a program for young people, a retrospective program and a program of the Pula Cinematheque. The accompanying programs consist of programs for film professionals, film workshops, various exhibitions dedicated to film art and concerts. The jury awards the festival's main prize – the Great Golden Arena for the best film of the festival. The Golden Arena is also awarded for the best direction, screenplay, best leading actor and actress, best supporting roles, cinematography, editing, music, scenography and costume design. The official award at the Festival is Oktavijan, which is awarded by the Croatian Society of Film Critics, and the audience decides with their votes the winner of the Golden Gate of Pula award.

The 73rd Pula Film Festival takes place from July 9 to 16 under the recognizable slogan "The Universe in Us". This historic and longest-running national film festival in the world once again transforms the ancient Pula Arena into a spectacular cinema under the starry sky. This year, too, at the Pula Film Festival, we are enjoying screenings of film classics and special screenings of the best of recent Croatian and international film production. Numerous Croatian and world premieres await us. 

A total of 18 films (14 feature films, 3 documentaries and 1 animated film) are competing for the prestigious Golden Arena this year within the Croatian Film and Minority Co-productions section. The main program takes place in the Pula Arena, while accompanying and free programs are shown at the Valli Cinema, the Istrian National Theater and on Ambrela Beach.

Inclusive films, one light, thousands of memories and watching films together!

Films under the stars, numerous events and socializing with filmmakers is definitely not to be missed. Film fans from all over the world eagerly await the screen in the Arena and the auditorium!