Peterlić was, besides Hrvoje Turković, one of the leading Croatian filmologists, author of an encyclopedia and a director. Before retiring he was a professor of filmology at the department of Comparative Literature of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb (from 1966 to 2006), as well as of history and theory of film at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. 
He graduated in English and Slavic language and literature in Zagreb and in 1959 earned his Ph. D with the thesis Concept and Structure of Film Time. He was the first person in Yugoslavia to earn a doctorate with a film topic. In addition he studied at the Theatre Academy (now Academy of Dramatic Arts). Before devoting his entire career to filmology, from late 1950’s he was a practicing film professional; at first he was assistant director and dramatist and in 1969 he directed the feature film Accidental Life, an existential story about a young couple of clerks from Zagreb. According to many critics it remains one of the most intriguing directing debuts in Croatian cinema. In the 1980's he was the author of the TV show What is Film, and was one of the moderators in another TV show about film 3, 2, 1 Go in which he hosted film legends such as Orson Welles. He was the author of several books: Concept and Structure of Film Time (1976), Basics of Film Theory (1977, 2001), Essays on Nine Authors (1984), Studies of Nine Films (2002) and Dejá-vu: Notes about Film History (2005), as well as the co-author of one book. In addition, he was the editor-in-chief of the two-volume Film Encyclopedia (1986, 1990) published by the Yugoslav Lexicographic Institute Miroslav Krleža, the capital publication of the Croatian and Yugoslav filmology for which he wrote most of the articles.  He was the founder and leader of the School of Media Culture of the Croatian Film Association (which is now called School of Media Culture "Ante Peterlić"). He passed away before he managed to finish his book History of Film, which was supposed to become, besides his previous book Basics of Film Theory, a schoolbook. In 2008, Peterlić’s assistant Nikica Gilić edited the first half of the book that was finished (history of the early and classical era) and in 2010 the selection of twenty-two most important essays, that Peterlić wrote from the 1960’s until the end of his life, were published under the title Film Textbook (2010). He received the award from the Association of Croatian Film Professionals, the Bartol Kašić award, the Vladimir Vuković award from the Croatian Association of Film Critics for life-time achievement (1998), Vladimir Nazor award for life-time achievement in film (1999), Vjesnik’s award Krešo Golik for life-time achievement in film (2007) and the City of Zagreb’s award for life-time achievement (2007).