Istrian village runner-up in European Film Location of the Year awards

Završje in Istria (Istrian Culture)

27 February 2020 – After almost three months of voting, the European Film Commissions Network’s Best European Film Location of the Year award has been decided. 

Since mid-November, the public has been voting for ten finalists, among them was the small Istrian village of Zavrsje, which was one of the filming locations in 2017 for the film Robin Hood: Origins.

Voting was a close affair and a battle to the end between Zavrsje and El Hierro in the Canary Islands which was the location for the TV series Hierro. 

El Hierro finished with the most votes and was declared the winner of the award which was announced at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. Zavrsje in Croatia was runner-up. 

Zavrsje was the Istria Film Commission candidate for the award which is responsible for promoting Istria as a film destination within the Istrian Cultural Agency. Završje, located in the municipality of Grožnjan, ‘acted’ in spring 2017 as Loxley, home of Robin Hood. 

The opening scenes of the film, which sees Robin Hood coming from the ruins of his hometown and deciding to take the fight against the notorious Sheriff of Nottingham, were filmed in Zavrsje.

Robin Hood: Origins, directed by Otto Bathurst and starring Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx and Jamie Dornan, was also filmed in Dubrovnik and had over 270 Croatians working on the film.