Written by on May 5, 2015. Posted in On Location

Western movie series Winnetou to film on location in Croatia

A new trilogy of Western movies based on the Winnetou novels by bestselling 19th century German author Karl May is to film in Croatia. May’s stories of fictional Native American character Winnetou were first adapted for the screen in the 60s and were also shot in Croatia.

Three 90-minute features will be made as German-Croatian co-productions with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC).

The films are expected to qualify for support from Croatia’s filming incentive programme, and location filming will re-visit many of the spots used by the productions in the 60s.

“Thanks to a great collaboration with HAVC, we are very proud to shoot again in Croatia and say, after almost 50 years, that Winnetou is back,” said producer Christian Becker of German production company Rat Pack Filmproduktion.

“Landscapes are magnificent, the local crew we work with are excellent and the people are very friendly. Everyone welcomed us warmly and gave us the best possible feeling of hospitality. We already look forward to working closely with the locals, companies and the local government.”

“We are preparing the shoot that begins in August 2015,” said Aleksandar Črček of Aleks Produkcija: “The cast and crew will be up to 70% Croatian – around 40 actors and 5,000 extras. The crew will hire outstanding professional filmmakers from Croatia.”

Croatia has enjoyed a sustained profile boost in recent years as a stand-in for the Westeros capital King’s Landing in HBO’s Game of Thrones. The country also doubled for Israel in the new archaeology drama series Dig.

Eastern Europe has doubled for US locations in just the last few years, with Romania standing in for West Virginia and Kentucky in History’s hugely successful Western miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.

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(Image: Željko Tutnjević/Croatian Audiovisual Centre - HAVC)