Explore Croatia Beyond Dubrovnik
Explore Croatia: Dubrovnik isn’t the only hot spot in this country
Dubrovnik has Game of Thrones and Star Wars but Vis Island has Mamma Mia. Intrigued? We knew you would be!
Croatia has a long tradition of film production. Back in the sixties it enjoyed its golden era, in the nineties production was interrupted by a war, but began flourishing once again with the beginning of the new century. Thanks to its natural beauty filled with wide fields, rocky mountains, and gorgeous coastline, Croatia is a perfect filming location.
The history of international productions in Croatia goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the movies filmed here include the 1918 Hungarian film, The Sunflower Woman and the 1937 German musical comedy Gasparone, filmed in Dubrovnik. From the sixties, with the so-called Golden Age in Croatian cinematography, an increased number of foreign productions and movies took place in Croatia. Ancient Babylon, Alexandria, and Rome could have easily been found in the scenes set in Jadran film in Zagreb. Jadran film studio was one of the biggest and well-known studios in Central Europe between the 1960s and 1990s and some 124 Yugoslav and 145 international co-productions were filmed there.
Oscar-winning Fiddler on the Roof was filmed in Lekenik (central Croatia) in 1971. Another Oscar-winning film, the Tin Drum was filmed in Zagreb in 1979. The famous Sophie’s Choice, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, was filmed in Raiserovo castle in Samobor in 1982.
War and Remembrance, starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Seymour won 3 Golden Globes and was filmed in Zagreb and Osijek in 1988. Welcome to Sarajevo, starring Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei was filmed in Trogir in 1997. Mathilde was filmed in Split in 2004 and The Fever starring Vanessa Redgrave, Michael Moore and Angelina Jolie filmed in Zagreb at the beginning of the new century.
The Hunting Party in 2007, starring Richard Gere, Sigourney Weaver, and Terrence Howard was filmed in Zagreb, Duga Resa, Karlovac, Samobor and the Zumberak region. The most recent productions in Croatia include BBC-produced TV series Dr. Who that was filmed in Trogir in 2009.
Most famously HBO’s Game of Thrones was filmed in Dubrovnik, Sibenik, and Split. Diana, the 2012 film starring Naomi Watts, was filmed in Zagreb, Rovinj, and Opatija. Crossing Lines starring Goran Visnjic and Donald Sutherland was filmed in Opatija. There were also Star Wars: Episode VIII filmed in Dubrovnik, and Robin Hood: Origins movie, which was also, filmed in Dubrovnik and Mamma Mia 2 on the island of Vis both in 2017.
Listing only a few of these movies and knowing that there are many others that selected Croatia as their filming location, we can only expect even more internationally acclaimed productions to visit this little part of heaven in the future. In the meantime, if you are looking for adventure and to see some of these famous locations, take a trip to Croatia and explore all the beautiful places that have been worthy enough to appear on the silver screen.
