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PULA 2022 Awards

The Staffroom wins big at Pula

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- Sonja Tarokić's debut emerges in the national competition, while Emin Alper's Burning Days dominates the international one

The Staffroom wins big at Pula
Sonja Tarokić at the Pula Film Festival

The 69th edition of the Pula Film Festival (16-24 July) saw nine titles in the main national competition. Five of them were world premieres and one of them had the national premiere status, while six of the titles were the filmmakers' debut features. Eventually, Sonja Tarokić’s The Staffroom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sonja Tarokić
film profile
]
came on top of the competition, triumphantly ending its festival tour which started at last year’s edition of Karlovy Vary where the film won the Special Mention in the main competition and the Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury.

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On top of winning the Grand Golden Arena for Best Film, The Staffroom scooped four more Golden Arenas. Sonja Tarokić was awarded as best director, Stojan Matavulj and Nives Ivanković won the Arenas for the best male lead and female supporting role respectively, and Borna Buljević was awarded for the editing. Additionally, The Staffroom won the prize of the critics jury in the national competition.

Other Croatian films with multiple Arenas are The Uncle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrija Mardešić and David …
film profile
]
, directed by Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac, which won awards for Best Screenwriting and Best Costume Design, and Radislav Jovanović Gonzo’s High on Life which was crowned for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Design. Four more films got one Golden Arena each: Lana Barić was awarded for the leading role of Vesna in Arsen Oremović’s debut The Head of a Big Fish [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, Ana Bulajić Črček was awarded for her work in the make-up department on Simon Bogojević Narath’s Illyricvm, Nina Violić got the Breza award for Best Debut Feature for Kick and Scream [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, while Ljubo Zečević got the award for best male supporting role in Goran Dukić’s Even Pigs Go to Heaven [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
. Dukić’s film also scooped the Audience Award in the national competition.

The international competition was dominated by Emin Alper’s Burning Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
film profile
]
, which won the awards for Best Film, Best Croatian minority co-production and the award of the Critics’ Jury. Radivoje Andrić’s How I Learned to Fly scooped two prizes, for Best Croatian Contribution in a minority co-production, and the Audience Award, while Maksym Nakonechnyi’s Butterfly Vision [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maksym Nakonechnyi
film profile
]
got the Special Mention.

Here is the full list of awards:

Croatian Film Competition

Grand Golden Arena
The Staffroom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sonja Tarokić
film profile
]
– Sonja Tarokić (Croatia)

Golden Arena for Best Directing
Sonja Tarokić – The Staffroom

Golden Arena for Best Screenwriting
Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac – The Uncle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrija Mardešić and David …
film profile
]
(Croatia/Serbia)

Golden Arena for Best Lead Actress
Lana Barić – The Head of a Big Fish [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Croatia)

Golden Arena for Best Lead Actor
Stojan Matavulj – The Staffroom

Golden Arena for Best Cinematography
Stanko Herceg – High on Life (Croatia)

Golden Arena for Best Editing
Borna Buljević – The Staffroom

Golden Arena for Best Supporting Actress
Nives Ivanković – The Staffroom

Golden Arena for Best Supporting Actor
Ljubo Zečević – Even Pigs Go to Heaven [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Croatia)

Golden Arena for Best Costume Design
Ana Savić Gecan – The Uncle

Golden Arena for Best Make-up
Ana Bulajić Črček – Illyricvm (Croatia/Slovenia/Italy/Kosovo/Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Golden Arena for Best Sound Design
Frano Homen – High on Life

Breza Award for Best Debut Feature
Kick and Scream [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
– Nina Violić (Croatia)

International Competition

Best Film
Burning Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
film profile
]
– Emin Alper (Turkey/France/Germany/Netherlands/Greece/Croatia)

Special Mention
Butterfly Vision [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maksym Nakonechnyi
film profile
]
– Maksym Nakonechnyi (Ukraine/Sweden/Croatia/Czech Republic)

Best Croatian Minority Co-production
Burning Days – Emin Alper

Best Croatian Contribution to the Minority Co-production
How I Learned to Fly – Radivoje Andrić (Serbia/Croatia/Bulgaria/Slovakia)

Student Film Competition

Best Fiction
Summer Planning – Alexandru Mironescu (Romania)

Special Mention
Bustle – Noa Kosanović (Netherlands)

Best Documentary
Wait for Me – Damir Markovina (Croatia)

Best Animated/Experimental
Kermes vermillio – Tudor Dobrescu (Romania)

Other Awards

Critics Jury Award Croatian Film
The Staffroom – Sonja Tarokić

Critics Jury Award International Film
Burning Days – Emin Alper

Audience Award Croatian Film
Even Pigs Go to Heaven – Goran Dukić

Audience Award International Film
How I Learned to Fly – Radivoje Andrić

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