At the closing ceremony of the 66th Pula Film Festival on July 21st, Dana Budisavljevic received four Golden Arenas for her docu-drama The Diary of Diana B.
Her film won the top award, the Grand Golden Arena for Best Festival Film, and she herself won the Golden Arena for Best Director. Her musicians, Nenad and Alen Sinkauz, also won awards, as did her editor Marko Ferković. The Diary of Diana B also won the Audience Award and the Fedeora Jury Prize for Best Croatian Feature Film.
The film tells the little-known story of Diana Budisavljević, a woman of Austrian descent who, during the Second World War, saved the lives of more than 10,000 children in Croatian concentration camps created by the fascist Ustashe.
Screened as a world premiere at the Pula Film Festival, The Diary of Diana B is Dana Budisavljevic’s first feature. She also co-wrote the script with Jelena Pajlan.
Sources:https://www.filmneweurope.com/, https://www.cineuropa.org/, https://www.film-center.si/
