05-05-2015

Winnetou Returns to Croatia

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    ZAGREB: Nearly half a century since the Balkan Western Winnetou film series roped in herds of fans across Eastern Europe, a TV film trilogy based on the popular Karl May Winnetou books is set to begin shooting in Croatia in August.

    The series will consist of three 90-minute TV films based on the first three original films from the 1960’s. The three films, Winnetou and His Old Friend Shatterhand, Winnetou – The Treasure of Silver Lake and End of Winnetou will be directed by Philipp Stölzl. The screenwriter is Jan Berger.

    The series is a Croatian/German production with a 70 percent Croatian crew. The series is produced by Christian Becker from the German company Rat Pack Filmproduktion and coproduced by Mythos and Rialto Film, and the Croatian production service company is Aleks Produkcija. The producers have applied to the Croatian Audiovisual Fund for the film and TV incentives scheme.

    The production will employ a cast of 40 actors and some 5,000 extras and will use the same Croatian locations that appeared in the original series.

    The series is scheduled to be released in 2016.