The bleak crime drama Detective Forst is notable for its chilly aesthetic, full of mountains, snow, ice, dark streets, and dour architecture, all captured on-location in the show’s setting of Zakopane, Poland. Nestled in the valley of the Tatra mountains, where the first season was also filmed, it’s a suitably grim setting for a story about a vengeful serial killer.
Where was Detective Forst on Netflix filmed?
Zakopane, Poland
The Polish series would of course want to make the most of the setting. Based on the book series by Remigiusz Mróz, Season 1 follows Detective Wiktor Forst as he investigates a serial killer known as the Beast of Giewont operating in Zakopane. Forst works for the Zakopane Police Force, and they are pretty much at their wits end with the maverick detective, but the show is eager to show off the real-life snow-laden locations in the series.
Everything is pretty much shot in and around the town of Zakopane and the stunning scenery that surrounds the area, including those mountains that tower above the town, and are as looming and foreboding as the serial killer in the show. Zakopane lies near Poland’s border with Slovakia. Zakopane lies in the valley between the Tatra Mountains and Gubalowka Hill and it is connected by rail and road to the provincial capital, Krakow.
Tatra Mountains
One of the more striking images that deeply enhances the cinematography of the show is the Tatra mountains which play a significant role in creating the mood and atmosphere of the show. The Tatra Mountains, Tatras, or Tatra, are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Poland and Slovakia. They are the biggest mountains in the Carpathians. The Tatras can be distinguished from the Low Tatras, which are a separate Slovak mountain range further south.
Who produced Detective Forst?
The named producers on the show are Marta Baranska, Helena Mazurek, Tomasz Morawski, Weronika Oderkiewicz, Boris Szyc, and Maria Waldowska. Boris Szyc also plays the part of the good detective in the show.
Detective Forst Production Timeline
- The first in a series of books featuring Detective Forst was written in 2015.
- Filming for Detective Forst began in October of 2022.
- A teaser trailer for the series was released on November 29th, 2023.
- The official full-length trailer hit our screens on December 19th, 2023.
- Filming for the show was completed in March of 2023.
- Detective Forst released exclusively on Netflix on January 11, 2024.
How many books are there in the series?
Written by Remigiusz Mroz, there are six books in the Forst series. The writer and lawyer is a hugely popular author in Poland and has published an impressive forty-six novels. He is reported to have sold over ten million copies of his novels, including the Forst series.
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