If we consider film, apart from the common things we know about it, as a record of a precise moment of the cinema and the country where it originates from, one should not be surprised that we are very often attracted to films from cultures, societies and countries closest to us. Of course, the orderliness of the North and the chaos of the South will always be exotically thrilling. And one should not waste time mentioning the dangers of the West and the East. But that what we know, or at least think we know, is always interesting - either it is that through watching others we get a better perspective of ourselves or it is that we later discover our misconceptions due to the opinions that we have formed beforehand.

Feature-length films from countries which are geographically and historcially close to Croatia have always been welcomed by Pula and this trend will continue. For those films the Festival has conceived an informal programme and a concrete prize, both bearing the same name - Neighbours and Friends. Films competing for the Neighbours and Friends Award have been singled out from festival programmes (Croatian Programme - Minority Co-productions, International Programme, Dizalica and Pulica) and, in turn, those programmes have been defined so that we could get to know our neighbours and friends. And their films, of course.