Films shot in the Bilogora area

Train in the Snow is one of the first films we watched as children at home and at school. It was filmed between 1973 and 1976 in the village of Grginac and in the village of Tomaš near Bjelovar. The main scenes were filmed on the railway line Bjelovar – Kloštar Podravski, and most of the actors appearing in the film were pupils of the Cigleni district school from Bjelovar. The film had its first premiere in Bjelovar, after which it was shown at the festivals in Šibenik and Pula, where it was awarded the “Jelen” audience award. Train in the Snow is the first children’s film to win this award. The Podravka train still rides along the Bjelovar – Kloštar line and is named “Mato Lovrak”, after the famous author of this legendary novel.

This classic of Croatian cinematography was filmed in Bjelovar and Samobor. The script was written by Goran Tribuson based on his own book, his sister Snježana directed the film, and the plot follows the growing up of the boy Frula in the sixties and seventies of the 20th century in the town of Bjelovar. The film is full of autobiographical details of the screenwriter and director, and stars Luka Dragić, Mirjana Rogina, Ivo Gregurević, Goran and Bojan Navojec, Semka Sokolović-Bertok, Borko Perić, Dora Fishter, Hana Hegedušić and others. The film was nominated for the Golden Pyramid at the Cairo Film Festival and won three Golden Arenas in Pula, for best actor (Ivo Gregurević), best editing (Marina Barac) and best screenplay (Goran Tribuson). Both Goran and Snježana Tribuson were born in Bjelovar.

Another classic, Dejan Aćimović’s film I Have to Sleep, My Angel, was also shot in Bjelovar. It is a family drama that follows the growing up of a boy Goran in Mostar during the seventies of the 20th century, whose Croatian father and Serbian mother split up, and she then falls ill. The film stars Karlo Barbarić, Bataša Dorčić, Goran Grgić, Zrinka Radić and others. The script for the film was written by Aćimović’s sister Tatjana. The European Film Academy included this film in the 40 best European films of 2008, it won the first audience award at the Munich festival, the Golden Mimosa award at the Herceg Novi festival, Nataša Dorčić was awarded the Golden Arena in Pula for the best female role, and Olga Pakalović for the best female supporting role. Livio Morosin received Vjesnik’s Breza Award as a debutant for music, and the Jury of Young Film Lovers declared the film the best in the category of the National Competition Program.

The last season of the British-American series Strike Back was filmed in the area of Bjelovar, specifically at the nearby Brezovac sports airport. The last season of the series was entirely filmed in Croatia, and the Brezovac airport is just one of the attractive locations where the action scenes were filmed. The series is based on the book of the same name from 2007, which follows the adventures of Chris Ryan, a former member of the Special Air Service. The series stars Philip Winchester, Sullivan Stapleton, Michelle Lukes, Daniel MacPherson, Rhona Mitra, Michelle Lukes and others.