A screening of the horror film "Štriguni" was held at Kina Valli, with director and screenwriter Aldo Tardozzi and part of the film crew joining the audience. The post-screening discussion was moderated by Iris Mošnja, and featured original composer Tamara Obrovac and actors Relja Borović, Hassan Abdelghani and Zoran Đorđević, better known as Đole Macola.
The film's plot is set in the underground of an Istrian town, where legends intertwine with modern scientific research. Young biologist Boris investigates the possibilities of prolonged life in a modern genetic laboratory, while the disappearance of a boy disturbs the locals and the police. Boris gradually becomes involved in an investigation that raises the question of whether Štriguni, mythical immortal beings believed to steal children, are truly just part of folklore. The lead roles are played by Kemal Rizvanović, Rade Šerbedžija and Tihana Lazović, while Jadranka Đokić plays one of the important roles.
Filming of the movie lasted eight years, with the pandemic being one of the reasons for the delay. At one point, it seemed the film would not happen at all, and one actor had grown up in the meantime, requiring him to be replaced by a new one. Filming took place last year around this time, and the film features some well-known locations such as Pula's Zerostrasse, Pazin, Završje or parts near Oprtlje. There was also an idea to film the movie in Egypt.
One of the biggest challenges was working on special effects, such as the frog that appears in the film, as producing such animations is very expensive. Hassan Abdelghani speaks one line in the film, and played himself because his character is called Brkati Arapin. Abdelghani said of the experience: "It was beautiful", and has otherwise done many films as a photographer.
This is Relja Borović's first film role, and he otherwise acts at the Zagreb Youth Theatre. It took three hours to apply his mask for filming, and he was happy to meet the actors as he would like to be like them one day. He also gained great experience as DJ Svemir. Đole Macola has been playing music with Šerbedžija for nine years, and this is the first time he has acted with him.
This is the 11th film Tamara Obrovac has worked on. The music was important in creating the effect, so she collaborated extensively with Ivan Mihocij, who worked on the sound. In the end, she achieved a blend of science fiction and modern elements that are not so tied to Istria as to genre horror. Although the film was promoted as a horror, Tardozzi tried to distance himself from that label all along, and commented on some reviews that criticised it for not being a "true" horror film.
