Films under the stars

Once again, from August 1st through September 1st, the Gradec Summer Cinema will be the most romantic place for watching movies under the stars. This year’s novelty are midnight projections.

Film buffs will again flock to film projections at the Gradec Summer Cinema, lovingly dubbed Zagreb's most romantic cinema under the stars. The projections will be held in Gradec, one of the most stunning locations in the heart of the Upper Town. The organizers of the popular event is the "Kings of the Street" duo. The first projection is scheduled for August 1st, and the programme will continue through September 1st. During that month, the audience will be offered a total of 48 films, of which 16 will be shown at midnight, a novelty in the 4th consecutive edition of the Gradec Summer Cinema.

The Gradec Summer Cinema has become known as the most romantic place to watch movies because of the ambience in which the projections take place. Although there are approximately 300 seating places, the audiences are always much bigger, as there are people who prefer watching their favourite movies sitting on the grass. Spectators are actually invited to bring their own throws, blankets, folding chairs and even couches – really anything that will contribute to a comfortable viewing experience. According to the organizers, this little cinema under the stars showed over 150 movies over the past three years and attracted over 50 thousand viewers.

This year's film programme has been compiled with the help of 13 film distributors, production houses, embassies and film festivals. The veteran supporter, the Embassy of Sweden, has been joined by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Embassy of the Republic of France. The audience will again be able to see the best movies from the Vukovar Film Festival, and as of this year, films from the Motovun Film Festival will be shown at Gradec. The programme also features several old nostalgic movies in the "Everscreen" cycle, while the tradition of showing the popular Professor Baltazar cartoons continues to the delight of the youngest film buffs. There will be projections of movies from some fifteen countries from four continents, some which will start at midnight. The peace and quiet of the residents in the Upper Town will not be disturbed as visitors will receive the sound through their mobile phones' FM receivers. All they have to do is bring their headphones with them.

Apart from the midnight projections, all the others will start at 9 P.M. This season will be opened by Krešo Golik's cult movie about old Zagreb "Tko pjeva zlo ne misli" (He who Sings Means no Harm). Interestingly enough, most of the scenes in the movie were shot on the streets of the Upper Town. A real treat has been prepared for the end of this season: straight from Stradun in Dubrovnik, a live performance of a concert of film scores performed by Sudar Percussion & Matej Meštrović.

Information about this year's edition of the Gradec Summer Cinema can be found at www.ljetnokinogradec.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LjetnoKinoGradec.