The Golden Arena for Best Director (Croatian: Zlatna arena za režiju) is an award given for best director at the Pula Film Festival, which was until 1992 the Yugoslav equivalent of the Academy Awards. Since 1992 and the breakup of Yugoslavia the competition narrowed to Croatian films only. The first festival was held in 1954, but the award was introduced in 1955.
List of winners Yugoslav competition (1955–90) YearDirectorInternational titleOriginal titleRef.1954 No jury prizes awarded in 1954.1955 Moments of DecisionTrenutki odločitve1956 Don't Look Back, My SonNe okreći se sine1957 Priests Ćira and SpiraPop Ćira i pop Spira1958 H-8H-81959 Three Quarters of a SunTri četrtine sonca1960 Atomic War BrideRat1961 Golden Arena for Best Director not awarded in 1961 and 1962.1962 1963 Face to FaceLicem u lice Wild GrowthSamorastniki1964 March on the DrinaMarš na Drinu Don't Cry, PeterNe joči, Peter1965 ThreeTri1966 Monday or TuesdayPonedjeljak ili utorak1967 The MorningJutro I Even Met Happy GypsiesSkupljači perja1968 When I Am Dead and GoneKad budem mrtav i beo1969 Downstream from the SunNizvodno od sunca1970 HandcuffsLisice1971 Black SeedCrno seme1972 The Master and MargaretMaestro i Margarita1973 Blossoms in AutumnCvetje v jesen1974 Death and the DervishDerviš i smrt1975 FearStrah1976 Beach Guard in WinterČuvar plaže u zimskom periodu1977 ManhuntHajka1978 Fragrance of Wild FlowersMiris poljskog cveća1979 JournalistNovinar1980 Special TreatmentPoseban tretman1981 Golden Arena for Best Director not awarded in 1981.1982 Living Like the Rest of UsŽiveti kao sav normalan svet1983 Something in BetweenNešto između1984 In the Jaws of LifeU raljama života1985 When Father Was Away on BusinessOtac na službenom putu1986 Evening BellsVečernja zvona1987 Hi-FiHaj-faj1988 The House by the Railway TracksKuće pored pruge1989 Cafe AstoriaKavana Astoria1990 The WindhunterVeter v mreži
Croatian competition (1992–present) YearDirectorInternational titleOriginal titleRef.1991 Festival cancelled.1992 Story from CroatiaPriča iz Hrvatske1993 The Golden YearsZlatne godine1994 National film programme cancelled, no prizes awarded.1995 Washed OutIsprani1996 How the War Started on My IslandKako je počeo rat na mom otoku1997 Mondo BoboMondo Bobo1998 When the Dead Start SingingKad mrtvi zapjevaju1999 Red DustCrvena prašina2000 Celestial BodyNebo, sateliti2001 Slow SurrenderPolagana predaja2002 Fine Dead GirlsFine mrtve djevojke2003 WitnessesSvjedoci2004 Long Dark NightDuga mračna noć2005 What Iva RecordedŠto je Iva snimila 21. listopada 2003.2006 All for FreeSve džaba2007 The Living and the DeadŽivi i mrtvi2008 No One's SonNičiji sin2009 The BlacksCrnci 2010 Just Between UsNeka ostane među nama2011 DaddyĆaća2012 Vegetarian CannibalLjudožder vegetarijanac2013 A StrangerObrana i zaštita2014 Number 55Broj 552015 The High SunZvizdan2016 On the Other SideS one strane2017 Quit Staring at My PlateNe gledaj mi u pijat2018 Comic SansComic Sans2019 The Diary of Diana BDnevnik Diane Budisavljević2020 Tereza37Tereza372021 A Blue FlowerPlavi cvijet2022 The StaffroomZbornica2023 Safe PlaceSigurno mjesto2024 Our ChildrenNaša djeca2025 Fiume o morte!Fiume o morte!2026 The Thing to Be DoneOno što treba činiti
Multiple winners The following directors have received multiple awards. The list is sorted by the number of total awards. Years in bold indicate wins in Yugoslav competition (1955–1990). Shared wins are indicated with an asterisk (*).
4 : Zrinko Ogresta (1995, 1999, 2016, 2021) 3 : Aleksandar Petrović (1965, 1967*, 1972) 3 : Krsto Papić (1970, 1992, 1998) 3 : Dalibor Matanić (2002, 2011, 2015) 2 : Branko Bauer (1956*, 1963) 2 : Matjaž Klopčič (1973, 1975)
2 : Živojin Pavlović (1968, 1977) 2 : Goran Paskaljević (1976, 1980) 2 : Srđan Karanović (1978, 1983) 2 : Vinko Brešan (1996, 2003) 2 : Rajko Grlić (1984, 2010) 2 : Kristijan Milić (2007, 2014)
References
External links Web archive 1954–2010 at the Pula Film Festival official website