Pula Film Festival is the most popular film festival in Croatia the big screen, open air, summer festival was founded in 1954 which makes it the oldest national film festival in the world and one of the oldest film festivals in general.
Its National & Popular programs are traditionally held in the ancient Vespasian’s Amphitheatre (constructed in the mid-1st century B.C), popularly referred to as Arena, during the summer this becomes one of the biggest open-air cinemas in the world (along with Locarno and Taormina). In ancient times it was used for gladiator battles, and now is used for cultural events. It can accommodate more than 5000 spectators.
Until 1991 the Pula Film Festival was known as the Yugoslavian national festival, now the festival has two competition programs, the Croatian national and international, with each category having separate awards. All the films in the International programme will be competing for the Golden Arena for the Best Foreign Film of the Festival and two jury prizes.
The screenings of Petar Orešković’s 3D black comedy SIMON MAGNUS and Zach Snyder’s summer blockbuster MAN OF STEEL in RealD 3D follows last year’s screening at the same venue and marks RealD’s continued commitment to Croatia’s leading film festival.
Bob Mayson, Managing Director, RealD Europe Ltd said, “We’re delighted to work with the festival once again to help celebrate 60 years of unparalleled creativity. Screenings like this are indicative of Pula’s particular magic. Working alongside Cinestar, our ultra-bright 3D screening technology has enabled us to reproduce our premium quality and immersive modern cinematic experience in the stunning setting of an ancient amphitheatre.’
Pula Festival’s artistic director Zlatko Vidačković commented, ‘We are so pleased to be partnering with RealD at the festival for another year. Their industry-leading screens and technological innovations make moments like this possible. Given the unique challenges of the outdoor set-up, Superman himself would struggle to pull off a screening as spectacular as the ones we have planned.’
The screening’s unusual location, a local landmark dating back to the 1st century, involves a unique technical set-up yet will enable the films to be screened to just under 6000 spectators – equalling last year’s audience, which is believed to be among the biggest ever for a 3D movie projection, held at the same venue last year with the help of RealD.
