The Brave Adventures of a Little Shoemaker — Lekenik

A little shoemaker leaves Master Mrkonja’s workshop — and a whole world opens up before him. Gita, strangers, dangers and chances to show how far a big heart can take him all await along the way.

Part of that world was found in Lekenik, one of the filming locations for the live-action The Brave Adventures of a Little Shoemaker. Having already welcomed a major production with Fiddler on the Roof, the village once again became the setting for a story audiences carry with them from childhood.

Director Silvije Petranović entrusted Hlapić’s shoes to young Mile Biljanović, the role of Gita to Ena Lulić and the stern Master Mrkonja to Goran Navojec. Behind the adventure is the imagination of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, whose hero reminds us that you do not have to be big to be brave.

Hlapić won over cinema audiences too: by early December 2013, more than 100,000 people had seen the film in Croatian cinemas. The hundred-thousandth viewer, a little girl named Lucija Vida, was surprised in person by Hlapić himself, actor Mile Biljanović. For one viewer, the adventure briefly stepped off the screen.