The general manager of the Pula Film Festival, Tanja Miličić, will visit Novi Sad during the Novi Sad Film Festival, where she will be president of the jury of the main competitive selection of international films.. Having the idea that the international character of the festival and the exchange of knowledge and experiences of domestic filmmakers with those from abroad are the right way to strengthen the Novi Sad and domestic film industry, NSFF will host representatives of the twin festivals every year.

In the year when the Pula Film Festival, one of the widely established film festivals, is celebrating its 70th birthday, Tanja Miličić talks about Pula's film treasures with a lot of love. As someone who dedicated most of her career to this project, Tanja reveals the key to the continuity and recognition of a new film event, such as the The Novi Sad Film Festival. Discovering what personal and professional issues can tie a person to the realization of such projects and to the film itself, Tanja revealed what a real film life looks like.

You once stated that you know the soul of the Pula Film Festival. . Given that it celebrated its 70th birthday this year and you have been part of it for two decades, how do you view the development and changes that shaped it, and do you think that the popular Pula mirrors the state of culture and society?

The Pula Film Festival is now so many years old that no living person knows it well enough from the first to the last, 70th edition. Someone knew it well during the 60s, 70s, and 80s of the previous century but knows nothing about it in the period after that and vice versa. Without a doubt, the editors of the monograph 70 Years of Film under the Stars in Pula,, Lana Skuljan Bilić and Sanela Pliško, know the most information and interesting facts about the Festival in each of its years.

As for myself, I say that I know its soul because it has been an integral part of my life for as long as I can remember and because I have held various positions in more than 20 festival editions and researched and got to know its operating and programming system in great detail. What can be concluded, without any doubt, not only from my experience but also by studying the festival's earlier history, is that transition and transformation are continuous and faithful companions of the Pula Film Festival. This can be attributed primarily to changing social circumstances but also to the desire for progress and improvement.

Yes, the Pula Film Festival is, in many ways, a mirror of the state of culture and society. It is enough to mention that it changed its name several times and began its life as a festival where feature and short Yugoslav feature films and documentaries were shown, and today, it is a Croatian film festival that represents all genres of feature films.

When you were appointed as the Festival's general manager last year, what was the biggest challenge for you as a leader?

Before answering, I would like to inform your readers exactly what my position is and what it entails. I am the general manager of the Public Institution Pula Film Festival. and, at the same time, the general manager of the Pula Film Festival. The name of the institution and the event are very similar, and everyone constantly confuses them, but there is a big difference between them.

The institution, Pula Film Festival., was founded in 2003 by the City of Pula with the main goal of preparing and realizing the event, the Pula Film Festival., and other city events, and providing logistical and technical support to programs and events that are not part of our organization. In 2007, the Institution took over the then-dilapidated Zagreb Cinema,which, after a thorough renovation, became Valli Cinema,whose program and organization I ran for 13 years. In addition to numerous regular, educational, and special programs that take place throughout the year at the Valli Cinema,after the Festival in August, we also organize the film events Cinema in the Neighbourhood and Circolo Classic.

We are not only active in the field of film, but we also organize Advent in Pula (a musical stage and wine-gastro event before Christmas and the New Year), then a similar ten-day event for Labour Day and Pula City Day at the beginning of May, and many other one-day and multi-day events program throughout the year. So, I am not exclusively the director of the Pula Film Festival., but of a large institution that deals with various programs.

But to return to your question, what I predicted and what finally happened was not the same; that is, something that I thought would be challenging for me eventually was not, and vice versa. Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Festival was, without a doubt, a large and demanding undertaking. We are still recovering from it. I felt an extremely great responsibility and excitement that I had the honour of being at the head of this jubilee edition. I am grateful to all my predecessors, as well as past and present festival employees, filmmakers, collaborators, partners, sponsors, and the audience, thanks to whose dedication the Festival continues in the future. Yes, I'm glad that's behind me now.

No, ipak najizazovnije je uskladiti potrebe i poslove Ustanove s mogućnostima i sposobnostima njezinih djelatnika, što je shvatila sam, jedan kontinuirani proces prilagođavanja i oblikovanja. Taman mislim da smo nešto dobro posložili i eto nove zavrzlame. Posebno me  fascinira ta neka „mini-moć” koju mi je ova funkcija donijela i kako se različiti ljudi odnose prema njoj. Iznenađuje me što većina ljudi nije samoinicijativna i samostalna, radije bih da ih netko usmjerava.

Your debut film, Patchwork (2003), toured numerous international film festivals. What memories do you have of working on your first film, and did you ever wish to return to the directorial calling?

Patchwork was created 20 years ago. Its realization was very cathartic for me. I loved every segment of its creation. In the meantime, I received financial support from HAVC to develop a documentary script. It is also a personal story, but for now, the film is only on paper and in my mind.

There is a high probability that I will remain the author of only one notable film. Because of that, someone will say I'm not a real author, but that doesn't bother me. I don't have that unstoppable inner drive that many creators have. I think that I found my creative expression and satisfied it to a great extent in managing Valli Cinema and the Festival. Such a form of creativity is also valuable, and it requires imagination, ingenuity, resourcefulness, dedication...

How do you view the current state of the film industry in the region when it comes to young directors? What are the dominant topics of their works, and do you think they have enough space in the public eye?

I wonder what you mean by a young director, one who is younger or one who, regardless of age, has directed a film for the first time, that is, lacks directorial experience? Age is and isn't important for many things, but in this case, I am much more interested in directors without experience in shooting feature films.

In the past few years, especially last year, numerous directors presented their debut films at the Pula Festival, and I think almost none of them were under 40 years old. I think it's interesting and proves to some extent that directing requires maturity in various forms and life experience.

I find it interesting that many of these debutantes deal with personal topics or comment on the society we live in, which I also consider personal. In this digital age, when everyone is in their own microcosm, there is never enough space in public, and the launch of NSFF can change that to a certain extent.   

When it comes to film audiences and visitors to film events, how can we encourage them? What is it that the current audience expects?

It's a simple question with no simple answer. What I have definitely noticed is that it is no longer enough to just organize regular screenings in the cinema or at the festival, but it is necessary to make a mini-spectacle out of everything so that the films can come to the fore in the sea of other cultural offers.

30-40 years ago, the Pula Film Festival je bio jedna od malobrojnih  kulturnih manifestacija ne samo u Puli, već u čitavoj Jugoslaviji, a danas ne mogu nabrojati sve manifestacije koje se tijekom godine odvijaju u Puli.  Konkurencija je velika, moja jedina preporuka ja da i vi sami volite i poštujete ono što radite i dobre vibracije će se već početi širiti.

The Novi Sad Film Festival, where you will be one of the presidents of the jury, is an international festival that will be held in our city for the first time this September. From your experience, what is the key to the continuity and affirmation of a festival, and how important is it to network with foreign filmmakers, exchange experiences and knowledge, and involve young people in the entire process?

Upornost, prilagodljivost, otvorenost, snalažljivost, optimizam, tvrdoglavost, tolerancija – važne su sve generacije.  Mladi imaju svježinu, entuzijazam i energiju, oni malo stariji imaju iskustvo i znanje, oni još stariji pamte život bez društvenih mreža i interneta, i najvažniji su i najzanimljiviji izvor informacija.

Those who are a little older have experience and knowledge, and those who are even older remember life without social networks and the Internet, and they are the most important and most interesting source of information. I belong to this middle group and possess only part of the tools for organizing a successful festival, but without the contribution of my younger and older colleagues, I would not know how to run a Festival that has a head and tail. We are all equally important and needed.  

Finally, if you had to define in one word what film is for you, what word would it be?

A refuge.

Foto: Matija Šćulac