List of winners
1955–1980
The following table lists all films which were winners of the top three prizes in the period from 1957 to 1980. On four occasions two films shared the same prize - in 1961 and 1965 two films shared the Big Golden Arena, in 1966 two films shared the runner-up award and in 1967 two films shared the third-place award. In addition to this, the 1965 second place prize was not awarded. Shared awards are indicated with an asterisk (*).
- Award changes
- In 1954 there was no festival jury and separate Critics' Choice and Audience awards were given. The Critics' Choice Award for Best Film went to František Čap's film Vesna , and the Audience Award for Best Film went to Fedor Hanžeković's film Stojan Mutikaša. In the following years both the critics' and audiences' awards were kept in parallel with the festival jury-given Golden Arenas, so the 1954 awards are usually not considered precursors of the present-day Big Golden Arena.
- In 1955 a festival jury was introduced for the first time and it was also the first time that the award was officially called Big Golden Arena. Although it was given to the best film's director, it is de facto the first Big Golden Arena for Best Film, and it was won by František Čap for the film Trenutki odločitve.
- In 1956 the Best Film award was not given in any form.
- From 1957 to 1960 the festival jury ranked three best films of the festival, without giving them an official award.
- From 1961 to 1968 the Big Golden Arena was awarded to best film, along with the second place prize called Big Silver Arena and a third place prize called Silver Arena.
- From 1969 to 1980 the third place prize was renamed Big Bronze Arena.
1981–1991
In 1981 the second and third place prizes were dropped. [1] The following table lists all winners from 1981 to 1990. The Big Golden Arena was not awarded in 1982. [2]
| Year | International title | Original title | Director (Wins) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 (28th) | The Fall of Italy | Pad Italije | Lordan Zafranović (2) |
| 1982 (29th) | Main prize not awarded. | ||
| 1983 (30th) | Body Scent | Zadah tela | Živojin Pavlović (3) |
| 1984 (31st) | Balkan Spy | Balkanski špijun | Božidar Nikolić & Dušan Kovačević |
| 1985 (32nd) | When Father Was Away on Business | Otac na službenom putu | Emir Kusturica |
| 1986 (33rd) | Happy New Year '49 | Srećna nova '49. | Stole Popov |
| 1987 (34th) | Reflections | Već viđeno | Goran Marković |
| 1988 (35th) | My Uncle's Legacy | Život sa stricem | Krsto Papić (2) |
| 1989 (36th) | The Meeting Point | Sabirni centar | Goran Marković (2) |
| 1990 (37th) | Silent Gunpowder | Gluvi barut | Bato Čengić |
| 1991 (38th) | Festival cancelled. [A] | ||
1992–present
Amid the breakup of Yugoslavia and the escalation of violence in 1991 in the early stages of the Croatian War of Independence, the festival was abruptly cancelled in 1991 immediately after the scheduled opening in late July. [3]
In 1992 the event was renamed and relaunched as Pula Film Festival, as opposed to the Festival of Yugoslav Film as it had been known previously. [4] Award categories and names were unchanged, but the selection was narrowed to Croatian films only, excluding films made in the other five republics of Yugoslavia.
This meant that initially only a handful of films were eligible for awards, and lack of film activity during the ensuing war even led to the cancellation of the 1994 award ceremony, as only one Croatian feature film had been produced in the preceding 12 months. [5]
| Year | International title | Original title | Director (Wins) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 (39th) | Story from Croatia | Priča iz Hrvatske | Krsto Papić (3) |
| 1993 (40th) | Countess Dora | Kontesa Dora | Zvonimir Berković |
| 1994 (41st) | National awards program cancelled. [B] | ||
| 1995 (42nd) | Washed Out | Isprani | Zrinko Ogresta |
| 1996 (43rd) | How the War Started on My Island | Kako je počeo rat na mom otoku | Vinko Brešan |
| 1997 (44th) | Mondo Bobo | Mondo Bobo | Goran Rušinović |
| 1998 (45th) | When the Dead Start Singing | Kad mrtvi zapjevaju | Krsto Papić (4) |
| 1999 (46th) | Madonna | Bogorodica | Neven Hitrec |
| 2000 (47th) | Marshal Tito's Spirit | Maršal | Vinko Brešan (2) |
| 2001 (48th) | Slow Surrender | Polagana predaja | Bruno Gamulin |
| 2002 (49th) | Fine Dead Girls | Fine mrtve djevojke | Dalibor Matanić |
| 2003 (50th) | Here | Tu | Zrinko Ogresta (2) |
| 2004 (51st) | Long Dark Night | Duga mračna noć | Antun Vrdoljak |
| 2005 (52nd) | What Iva Recorded | Što je Iva snimila 21. listopada 2003. | Tomislav Radić |
| 2006 (53rd) | All for Free | Sve džaba | Antonio Nuić |
| 2007 (54th) | The Living and the Dead | Živi i mrtvi | Kristijan Milić |
| 2008 (55th) | No One's Son | Ničiji sin | Arsen Anton Ostojić |
| 2009 (56th) | Metastases | Metastaze | Branko Schmidt |
| 2010 (57th) | Just Between Us | Neka ostane među nama | Rajko Grlić |
| 2011 (58th) | Kotlovina | Kotlovina | Tomislav Radić (2) |
| 2012 (59th) | A Letter to My Father | Pismo ćaći | Damir Čučić |
| 2013 (60th) | A Stranger | Obrana i zaštita | Bobo Jelčić |
| 2014 (61st) | Number 55 | Broj 55 | Kristijan Milić (2) |
| 2015 (62nd) | The High Sun | Zvizdan | Dalibor Matanić (2) |
| 2016 (63rd) | On the Other Side | S one strane | Zrinko Ogresta (3) |
| 2017 (64th) | A Brief Excursion | Kratki izlet | Igor Bezinović |
| 2018 (65th) | Mali | Mali | Antonio Nuić (2) |
| 2019 (66th) | The Diary of Diana B | Dnevnik Diane Budisavljević | Dana Budisavljević |
| 2020 (67th) | Tereza37 | Tereza37 | Danilo Šerbedžija |
| 2021 (68th) | A Blue Flower | Plavi cvijet | Zrinko Ogresta (4) |
| 2022 (69th) | The Staffroom | Zbornica | Sonja Tarokić |
| 2023 (70th) | Bigger than Trauma | Veće od traume | Vedrana Pribačić |
| 2024 (71st) | Celebration | Proslava | Bruno Anković |
