# Golden Arena for Best Actor

The Golden Arena awards were established in 1955 as the Yugoslav national film awards, presented annually at the Pula Film Festival. From 1955 to 1990 the awards were given for highest achievements in Yugoslav cinema. In 1991 the festival was cancelled due to the breakup of Yugoslavia, only to resume in 1992 as the Croatian film awards festival. It has been held every year since (with the exception of the 1994 edition which was also cancelled).
Since each Pula Film Festival includes screenings of all the locally produced feature films made in the preceding 12 months (which is made possible due to the local film industry's relatively low output), everyone involved in making them is considered automatically qualified for the Golden Arena award. Therefore there are no Academy Award-style shortlists of nominees announced prior to the actual awarding ceremony, although some festival editions did award runner-up acting awards, called Silver Arena.
The awards are given by the jury of five or six members, usually consisting of prominent filmmakers and film critics. Some festival editions also had Best Actor winners as voted by audiences, but these are not considered Golden Arena awards. Also, in the 1950s and 1960s awards in the acting category were given for actors' whole body of work in the preceding year so some of the more prolific recipients are officially listed as having won the Golden Arena award for several films made that year.

## List of winners

The following is a list of winners of the Golden Arena for Best Actor at the Pula Film Festival.

### Yugoslav competition (1955–1990)

| Year | Winner | English title(s) | Original title(s) |
| 1955 | Stane Sever | Moments of Decision | Trenutki odločitve |
| 1956 | Bert Sotlar (shared) | Don't Look Back, My Son | Ne okreći se sine |
| 1956 | Ljuba Tadić (shared) | Big and Small | Veliki i mali |
| 1957 | Mladen Šerment | Master of His Own Body | Svoga tela gospodar |
| 1958 | Pavle Vuisić | | Tri koraka u prazno |
| 1959 | Petre Prličko | Miss Stone | Mis Ston |
| 1960 | Antun Vrdoljak | Atomic War Bride | Rat |
| 1961 | Miha Baloh | | Veselica |
| 1962 | Mija Aleksić | | Dr |
| 1963 | Slobodan Perović | Men | Muškarci |
| 1964 | Ljuba Tadić | The March to River Drina | Marš na Drinu |
| 1965 | Bata Živojinović | Three The Enemy | Tri Sovražnik |
| 1966 | Antun Nalis (shared) | Looking Into the Eyes of the Sun | Pogled u zjenicu sunca |
| 1966 | Relja Bašić (shared) | Rondo | Rondo |
| 1967 | Bata Živojinović | I Even Met Happy Gypsies The Birch Tree The Feast | Skupljači perja Breza Praznik |
| 1968 | Ljuba Tadić | Before the Truth Wolf of Prokletije | Pre istine Vuk sa Prokletija |
| 1969 | Boris Dvornik | When You Hear the Bells The Bridge | Kad čuješ zvona Most |
| 1970 | Stevo Žigon | Oxygen | Oxygen |
| 1971 | Darko Damevski | Black Seed | Crno seme |
| 1972 | Bata Živojinović | The Master and Margaret Traces of a Black Haired Girl | Maestro i Margarita Tragovi crne devojke |
| 1973 | Ljubiša Samardžić | A Performance of Hamlet in the Village of Mrdusa Donja The Battle of Sutjeska | Bombaši Predstava Hamleta u Mrduši Donjoj Sutjeska |
| 1974 | Dragomir Bojanić | The Wedding | Svadba |
| 1975 | Ljuba Tadić | Fear | Strah Doktor Mladen |
| 1976 | Radko Polič | Idealist | Idealist |
| 1977 | Pavle Vuisić | Manhunt Beasts The Written Off Return | Hajka Beštije Povratak otpisanih |
| 1978 | Rade Šerbedžija | Bravo Maestro | Bravo maestro |
| 1979 | Boris Dvornik | The Return | Povratak |
| 1980 | Ljubiša Samardžić | | Rad na određeno vreme |
| 1981 | Dragan Nikolić | The Falcon | Banović Strahinja |
| 1982 | Ljubiša Samardžić | Savamala | Savamala |
| 1983 | Miki Manojlović | Something In-Between | Nešto između |
| 1984 | Danilo Stojković | Balkan Spy | Balkanski špijun |
| 1985 | Miki Manojlović | When Father Was Away on Business | Otac na službenom putu |
| 1986 | Rade Šerbedžija | Evening Bells | Večernja zvona |
| 1987 | Žarko Laušević | Officer with a Rose | Oficir s ružom |
| 1988 | Mustafa Nadarević | The Glembays | Glembajevi |
| 1989 | Janez Hočevar | Cafe Astoria | Kavana Astoria |
| 1990 | Branislav Lečić | Silent Gunpowder | Gluvi barut |

### Croatian competition (1992–present)

| Year | Winner | English film title | Original film title |
| 1991 | Festival was cancelled. | Festival was cancelled. | Festival was cancelled. |
| 1992 | Sven Lasta | The Murmur of the Shell | Školjka šumi |
| 1993 | Ilija Ivezić | The Golden Years | Zlatne godine |
| 1994 | Award ceremony was cancelled. | Award ceremony was cancelled. | Award ceremony was cancelled. |
| 1995 | Filip Šovagović | Washed Out | Isprani |
| 1996 | Rene Medvešek | The Seventh Chronicle | Sedma kronika |
| 1997 | Sven Medvešek | Mondo Bobo | Mondo Bobo |
| 1998 | Filip Šovagović (2) | Transatlantic | Transatlantik |
| 1999 | Ivo Gregurević | Madonna | Bogorodica |
| 2000 | Ilija Ivezić (2) | Marshal Tito's Spirit | Maršal |
| 2001 | Filip Šovagović (3) | Slow Surrender | Polagana predaja |
| 2002 | Ivo Gregurević (2) | Fine Dead Girls | Fine mrtve djevojke |
| 2003 | Zlatko Crnković | Here | Tu |
| 2004 | Goran Višnjić | Long Dark Night | Duga mračna noć |
| 2005 | Ivo Gregurević (3) | What Iva Recorded | Što je Iva snimila 21. listopada 2003. |
| 2006 | Krešimir Mikić | The Melon Route | Put lubenica |
| 2007 | Emir Hadžihafizbegović | Armin | Armin |
| 2008 | Alen Liverić | No One's Son | Ničiji sin |
| 2009 | Rene Bitorajac | Metastases | Metastaze |
| 2010 | Rade Šerbedžija (3) Tony Grga | 72 Days, The Abandoned | Sedamdeset i dva dana, Ostavljeni |
| 2011 | Draško Zidar | Kotlovina | Kotlovina |
| 2012 | Rene Bitorajac (2) | Cannibal Vegetarian | Ljudožder vegetarijanac |
| 2013 | Bogdan Diklić | A Stranger | Obrana i zaštita |
| 2014 | Ivo Gregurević (4) | The Reaper | Kosac |
| 2015 | Emir Hadžihafizbegović (2) | These Are the Rules | Takva su pravila |
| 2016 | Lazar Ristovski | On the Other Side | S one strane |
| 2017 | Nebojša Glogovac | The Constitution | Ustav Republike Hrvatske |
| 2018 | Janko Popović Volarić | Comic Sans | Comic Sans |
| 2019 | Krešimir Mikić (2) | What a Country! | Koja je ovo država |
| 2020 | Rade Šerbedžija (4) | Fishing and Fisherman's Conversations | Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje |
| 2021 | Rene Bitorajac (3) | Once We Were Good for You | A bili smo vam dobri |
| 2022 | Stojan Matavulj | The Staffroom | Zbornica |
| 2023 | Goran Marković | Safe Place | Sigurno mjesto |
| 2024 | Bernard Tomić | Celebration | Proslava |

## Multiple winners

The following actors have received multiple awards. The list is sorted by the number of total awards. Years in bold indicate wins in Yugoslavian competition (1955–1990).
* 4 : Ljuba Tadić (1956, 1964, 1968, 1975)
* 4 : Ivo Gregurević (1999, 2002, 2005, 2014)
* 4 : Rade Šerbedžija (1978, 1986, 2010, 2020)
* 3 : Bata Živojinović (1965, 1967, 1972)
* 3 : Ljubiša Samardžić (1973, 1980, 1982)
* 3 : Filip Šovagović (1995, 1998, 2001)
* 3 : Rene Bitorajac (2009, 2012, 2021)
* 2 : Pavle Vuisić (1958, 1977)
* 2 : Boris Dvornik (1969, 1979)
* 2 : Miki Manojlović (1983, 1985)
* 2 : Ilija Ivezić (1993, 2000)
* 2 : Emir Hadžihafizbegović (2007, 2015)
* 2 : Krešimir Mikić (2006, 2019)