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    Stradun (Dubrovnik, Croatia)

    In its hundred-year-long cinematic history, the streets, city walls and palaces of Dubrovnik have provided inspiration to numerous filmmakers. Dubrovnik’s well-preserved and unique architectural harmony, particularly its main pedestrian street, Stradun (today’s appearance of which dates back to the 17th century), offer an abundance of filmic expressions.

    photo of Stradun high street in Dubrovnik
    Stradun (picture by Roy Zerloch)

    Thus, the cavalry of the Mexican army passes down Stradun in the Euro-western, THE TASTE OF VIOLENCE by Robert Hossein (1961), while some time later the Fascist occupation army does the same in the Yugoslav film OCCUPATION IN 26 PICTURES by Lordan Zafranovic (1978), based on historical events of World War II. With minimal modifications, Stradun is easily transformed into Goya’s Madrid (GOYA, OR THE HARD PATH OF KNOWLEDGE by Konrad Wolf, 1971) or papal Rome (THE POPE MUST DIE by Peter Richardson, 1991).

    It is also frequented by well-known superheroes, in CAPTAIN AMERICA by Albert Pyun (1990), and the somewhat less famous but equally successful ones in THE THREE FANTASTIC SUPERMEN by Gianfranco Parolini (1967). In more recent times, thanks to the growing popularity of Dubrovnik as a filming location, spacecrafts from a distant galaxy have flown over the city’s central street (STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI by Rian Johnson, 2017), while rebels led by Robin Hood have march down it (ROBIN HOOD: ORIGINS by Otto Bathurst, 2018). All of them have been drawn by the warmth and the light of Stradun, Dubrovnik’s living room, where everyone feels welcome and at home.

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    Producer Boris T. Matić, member of the European Film Academy, and Nikša Konsuo, Head of Kinematografi Dubrovnik