Andrej Korovljev completed a genuine film about the city of Pula

The shooting of the film Pula, the first feature film directed by Andrej Korovljev, has ended. Bewitched by the city, Korovljev does not take us further than his native toponym, but he moves out of the documentary form through which we met and fell in love with him through the films Una storia polesana and Godine hrđe, and the biographical story Tusta, KUD Idijoti frontman.

The film is based on the novel of the same name Pula, by Vladimir Stojsavljević, and Ivan Turković-Krnjak was in charge of the script. The theme of the film is the impossible utopian love between Pula high school student Una and an elderly refugee from war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995. The plot of the romance takes place in Hotel Pula where two worlds clash, one is a refugee and the other is full of pain. the middle. On the other hand, there are Pula high school students, punks, alternatives, metalheads and everyone who gathered at the Hotel Pula in the 80's and 90's.  Director stated:

I am thrilled to make the film, there was immeasurable positive energy on the set, we had a dream team, divine actors, and all this would not have happened if producer Dijana Mlađenović, 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. I am extremely glad that we have discovered new faces on the screen: the phenomenal Pula actress Petra Blašković, who has so far achieved success only in the theatre; young and talented Nika Ivančić from Pula and the leading role in this story Nika Grbelja, a woman from Zagreb from the first year of acting studies in Rijeka for whom I envisage a stellar career. We entrusted the main male role to the phenomenal Sarajevan Ermin Brava, while Maja Izetbegović and Jasmin Telalović still appear in the major supporting roles. The scenographic miracle in recreation in the 1990s was staged by Tajana Čanić Stanković, the costumes were faithfully portrayed by Desa Janković from Pula, and the mask was painted by the hardened Snježana Gorup. A crowd of Pula residents was present in front of and behind the camera on the film, so in all segments, this will be a genuine film about Pula.

The film is produced by the production company Kinematograf from Pula. The filming lasted from September 13 to October 15 at the following locations: Valsaline Bay, Naval Hospital, Gymnasium, Bourguignon Fortress, Kaštel, Hotel Pula, old bus station, and one socialist apartment in a skyscraper on Veruda and an old Austro-Hungarian villa in the wider area. centre of Pula. And this time Korovljev does not fail to show us the sights of his hometown, while telling a generational story about life, love, growing up and the unfortunate circumstances in which his generations happened. 

In addition to director Andrej Korovljev and producer Dijana Mlađenović, the film brought together many filmmakers and professionals - director of photography Stanko Herceg, set designer Tajana Čanić, costume designer Desanka Janković, mask master Snježana Gorup and a large number of professionals and associates from Pula - Kristina Nefat, Petra Pletikos and Debora Trusgnach from the scenography sector, Nino Josipović as assistant director, Goran Legović as location organizer, Igor and Kristijan Burlović from MedVid, Hasan Abdelghani as the photographer on the set, and many Pula actors - Petra B. Blašković, Nika Ivančić, Luka Juričić, Romina Vitasović, Antonio Scarpa (father and son). It should be noted that the main actors are the Bosnian actor Ermin Bravo and the young actress from Zagreb, for whom this will be her first appearance in the film, Nika Grbelja.

The film is mostly funded by the Croatian Audiovisual Center. In addition, the film is co-financed by the international fund RE-ACT, and funds from the City of Pula and the Tourist Board of the City of Pula and the County of Istria.

The national premiere will certainly take place next year at the Pula Film Festival, and it is too early to talk about the international premiere and festivals - says Korovljev.

We eagerly await the film in the hope that Korovljev did not stray far from his poetics intertwined with perfect dissection of character, those wonderful little people who have placed social disasters and geography where they are, and he brings to the surface the best of them.