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    • NTC Award Ceremony
      New Talent Competition gives young filmmakers from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe the opportunity to present their outstanding debut or second film to the public. Join us on Sunday 1 December at 19h
    • Music at ENFF
      The Eastern Neighbours Film Festival welcomes special musical guests each year to enrich our program. For this 16th edition, we’re thrilled to present two talented young musicians: guitarist Antonio Peršak (CR) and violinist İdil Yunkuş (TR). Together, they will perform a traditional Balkan dance and folk song, highlighting the beauty of this music through the… Read more: Music at ENFF
    • Masterclass with Janez Burger
      This masterclass presents a unique opportunity to explore Burger's distinct storytelling style, genre use, and exploration of contemporary social issues. Join us on Saturday 30 November at 17h - Room 5
    • Panel Discussion: Exploration of individual and collective memory in cinema
      Panel Discussion: Exploration of individual and collective memory in cinema on Friday 29 November at 18h

Hotel Pula

dir. ANDREJ KOROVLJEV 

DUTCH PREMIERE

The opening film of the 70th Pula Film Festival simultaneously shows the audience a postcard of a widely-known festival and working town, as well as a collision of worlds in an impossible utopian love story.

Mahir (38) has been living in the Hotel Pula, which has been turned into a refugee centre, for years. His days are the same, empty and monotonous, and the future is uncertain. One night he will meet a young local girl, Una, who will shake his world. Hope emerges, but is it enough for this seemingly impossible love story to survive the trials when Mahir’s history surfaces? The partial adaptation of the novel “Pula” by Vladimir Stojsavljevic, by the talented scriptwriter Ivan Turkovic Krnjak, is a touching drama about the clash of worlds, social exclusion, and charged emotions. Renowned Bosnian actor Ermin Bravo gave a remarkable performance in this memorable debut by A. Korovljev.

SHOWTIMES | Special Guest: screenwriter Ivan Turkovic Krnjak

Friday, 24 November – 18:50


Saturday, 25 November – 17:00

Buy Tickets Here!

HOTEL PULA | 2023 | 95 min | Croatia

PRODUCTIONDijana Cetina Mladenovic – Kinematograf; Mike Downey
CASTErmin Bravo, Nika Grbelja, Nika Ivancic, Petra B. Blaskovic
SCREENPLAYIvan Turkovic Krnjak (based on the novel “Pula” by Vladimir Stojsavljevic)
CINEMATOGRAPHYStanko Herceg 
EDITINGIvana Fumic
LANGUAGECroatian
SUBTITLESEnglish

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Brac Film Festival, 2023 – Audience Award for the Best Feature Film | Pula Film Festival, 2023 – Opening Film | Sarajevo Film Festival, 2023

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

I am thrilled to make the film, there was immeasurable positive energy on the set, we had a dream team, and divine actors, and all this would not have happened if producer Dijana Mladenovic, also from Pula, had not given the last creative and organizational atom of strength to our project! We have been developing it together for over three years and it is somehow unusual and strange for both of us that we realized it so easily and happily. 

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Andrej Korovljev (1970) studied mechanical engineering in Zagreb and film directing at Westminster University in London. After his studies, he returned to Croatia and began his professional work in directing. He has directed hundreds of Croatian commercials, as well as commercials for numerous international clients. His artistic work includes short films, music videos, and documentary films. Best known are “Tusta” and “The Years of Rust” for which he won the Award for Best Documentary Film, the Jelena Rajkovic Award for Best Young Director, and the Award for Best Editing at the Croatian Film Days in 2000. Korovljev is a member of the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild.