The Transcarpathian Tourist Organisation together with the NGO Culture Ecology Tourism announced 2023 as the year of film tourism in the region. Throughout the year, the region's tourism experts introduced the audience to films that were filmed in Transcarpathia and highlighted locations that all film lovers should pay attention to. In this publication, we tell you about the top 7 film sets of famous films in the region.
"WAR AND PEACE"
(Mukachevo district)
The 1967 film War and Peace is one of the most expensive films in the history of cinema. It won an Oscar and gained worldwide fame - the shots of burning Moscow alone are worth a lot!
The filming on the territory of Transcarpathia lasted for six months - from December 1962 to May 1963. During the filming in our region, 150 carriages of equipment were used, 23 tonnes of explosives, 40 thousand litres of kerosene were used, more than 12 thousand air explosions were carried out, and 35 thousand costumes were sewn.
Locations for tourists:
- Kushtanovytsia village, Mukachevo district. The Battle of Schönhraben was filmed here
- Verkhniy Koropets village, Mukachevo district. Filming of the military next to a Roman Catholic church
- The outskirts of Svaliava. The battle of Austerlitz was filmed here
In addition to these locations, 231 more scenes were filmed in the Zakarpattia region, which were originally planned to be shot in other places. Residents from the surrounding villages and real soldiers from the Berehove and Mukachevo regiments were involved in the filming.
"SEVENTEEN MOMENTS OF SPRING"
(Schönborn Palace, Svaliava)
The cult TV series about the Soviet intelligence officer Stirlitz was released in 1973. The film was filmed in Moscow, Riga, Berlin, Tbilisi, and... Zakarpattia. It was here, near Svaliava, that Pastor Schlag "crossed the border" on skis.
Locations for tourists:
- the Sinyak mountain range, which Schlag "overcame" to fulfil Stirlitz's task
- Schönborn Palace, where one of the episodes of the series was also filmed.
"THE CAMP GOES TO THE SKY"
(Vinogradov)
The legendary film by Moldovan film director Emil Lotianu, made in 1975. In a year, almost 65 million people watched the tragedy about the love of two gypsies, Lojk and Radda, and 112 countries bought the rights to screen it.
Transcarpathians will almost certainly recognise familiar landscapes in the film, and we suggest that visitors to the region record them so that they can "check in" later.
Locations for tourists:
- The Roman Catholic Church in Vynohradiv, the ruins of the Vynohradiv Castle, views of the Chorna Hora
- Synevyr pass with a panoramic view of the Borzhava ridge.
"IVAN SYLA"
(Khust district)
A Ukrainian children's feature film made in 2013 based on the book by the Transcarpathian writer Oleksandr Havrosh "The Incredible Adventures of Ivan Strong, the Strongest Man in the World".
The film was shot in Kyiv, Chernivtsi, Kamianets-Podilskyi and in the protagonist's native village of Bilky in Zakarpattia.
Locations for tourists:
- Bilky village, Khust district - bus stop and narrow-gauge railway
- The village of Imstychevo, Khust district, is the house of Ivan Firtsak (Ivan Syla).
"BORDER"
(Uzhhorod, Perechyn)
A Ukrainian-Slovak film about smuggling on the border between Ukraine and Slovakia was released in 2017.
One of the main roles was played by an actress from Uzhhorod, Rimma Zyubina, and the film's soundtrack was the famous folk song "Hey, Falcons", covered by the popular Slovak band IMT Smile.
The film, which became the highest-grossing film in the history of Slovak cinema, was also shot in Zakarpattia.
Locations for tourists:
- Uzhhorod - Greek Catholic Cathedral and sand quarry
- Perechyn - city centre, stadium, railway station
- Uzhok pass
"COLD BLOOD"
(Lake Synevyr)
The British psychological thriller starring Jean Reno was released in 2019. The iconic actor reprises his role as a hitman, and the film takes place on the shores of a lake in the mountains, on the imaginary border between Canada and the United States.
In fact, the main location of the film was a house on Lake Synevyr, which was specially built (and removed after filming) by the film's decorators. In total, filming in the Carpathians lasted almost two weeks. The footage shot here will make up about 30 minutes of the film's total length.
Location for tourists:
- The largest lake in the Ukrainian Carpathians is Synevyr, located in the national park of the same name in Khust district of Zakarpattia region.
"DOVBUSH"
(Svydovets, Rakhiv district)
One of the most expensive Ukrainian films is historical action about the life of the opryshky leader Oleksa Dovbush - was released this year on the Independence Day of Ukraine.
The film was shot in the Carpathians, Ternopil region and Kyiv. In Transcarpathia, the Svydovets Ridge became the film set for Dovbush.
Locations for tourists:
- Polonyna Vurda - a Hutsul cheese dairy was built here for the film.
- Lake Gereshaska is the setting for Dovbush, and Hutsul buildings were placed here. Local shepherds were also involved in the filming.
By the way, experts Tourist information centre of Rakhiv district are already organising excursions to the filming locations of the top film of Ukrainian cinema.
The IV Carpathian Mountain International Film Festival, which took place in Uzhhorod from 21 to 24 September 2023, was a successful end to the year of film tourism in Zakarpattia. The jury chose the winners from among 36 films from Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, the USA, Iceland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Spain, and the UK.
This year, the festival focused on documentary films. The main prize in the Best Documentary Feature Film nomination went to Three Women by Masym Melnyk from Uzhhorod, filmed in the Transcarpathian village of Stuzhytsia, near the border between Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland.
The article was prepared by the Department of Tourism and Resorts of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration
No comment