Country Article / Postcards
This July see Balkan stars under the stars…and enjoy a film festival as an insider
Date: 06/25/2007In Roman times, the masses were appeased with bread and circuses. (You could say that little has changed. Fast forward 2,000 years, and the powers-that-be now distract us from reality with a diet of banal TV shows and celebrity worship.) In Pula, in Croatia's Istria region, the Roman legacy of popular entertainment survives in astounding architectural form. Along with a forum and the Golden Arch of Augustus, this coastal city boasts one of the world's best-preserved amphitheaters, called "the Arena" by the locals.
An excuse for romantic meetings
Built during the Emperor Vespasian's 1st century AD reign, this amphitheater was designed to showcase gladiatorial combat. Its stone steps could seat 20,000 spectators-all, no doubt, baying for blood or cheering for their favorite fighter. Gladiators were the celebrities of their age. The local story is that Vespasian commissioned it as an excuse for frequent visits to Pula-one of his mistresses, Antonia Cenida, owned estates here.
The Arena is a venue today for various concerts and events, with an audience capacity of 5,000 to 8,000. For many, the annual highlight is the Pula Film Festival, this year running from July 12 to July 21. The festival was launched in 1954 as an official communist celebration of Yugoslavian feature films. In 1992, it became a festival of Croatian film, but there's now more of an international flavor. Details of this year's movies aren't yet available, but they're more likely to be avant-garde than blockbuster. Keep an eye on www.pulafilmfestival.hr for the schedule, times, and ticket prices.
Two days after Pula's festival wraps up, Croatia's international movie action moves to Motovun, a fortified hill village in northern Istria. Last year's offerings included a German/Mongolian production called The Story of the Weeping Camel and Wristcutters: the Love Story, roundly condemned by various U.S. suicide prevention organizations. Again, not exactly movies for the mainstream.
Calling for film-fan volunteers
Now in its ninth year, the Motovun festival is run by 170 volunteers from all around the world. On June 2 this year, a press release went out calling for more. If you're interested in helping out, you'll be provided with lodgings, food, and "other little things that make the life in Motovun easier and happier."
Responsibilities range from maintenance of festival theaters and selling tickets to various duties on the festival campsite. It sounds like great fun and is obviously a rare opportunity to participate as a film festival insider. An application form is on the website at www.motovunfilmfestival.com. Motovun's festival runs July 23 through July 27.
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