Where was Absentia filmed? All filming locations revealed

Absentia is set in Boston, yet the series was filmed almost entirely in Bulgaria, with principal photography anchored in Sofia and on stages at Nu Boyana Film Studios. Creator duo Gaia Violo and Matt Cirulnick crafted a tense, cold aesthetic that Sofia could replicate with modern blocks, old-world streets and industrial edges.

Director Oded Ruskin and the team relied on Nu Boyana’s established American-style backlots for filming FBI offices, interrogation rooms and street scenes that convincingly portray Boston. Headlined by Stana Katic alongside Patrick Heusinger and Matthew Le Nevez, Absentia rolled out on AXN and Prime Video, with Season 3 premiering on July 17, 2020.

Absentia is streaming on Netflix, with all three seasons available to watch after its addition to the platform on November 14, 2025

All Absentia filming locations explored

Sofia, Bulgaria, city exteriors doubling Boston: Used across all three seasons for street-level scenes, alleys, residential blocks and industrial zones. The mix of neoclassical façades, Soviet-era massing, glassy modern inserts, and gritty peripheries let the crew pivot between “Back Bay-ish” avenues and rougher edges in a single day. Dressed with US signage, Sofia reads as Boston while keeping moves compact and efficient. Absentia is formally listed as being produced in Bulgaria.

Nu Boyana Film Studios, Boyana district, primary base and interior builds: Large soundstages housed the FBI offices, interview rooms, safe houses, medical sets, and controlled action beats. The studio’s standing American-style street sets supported exterior “US” work without requiring a trip off campus, while in-house props, vehicles and VFX streamlined the production pipeline. Nu Boyana lists Absentia Seasons 1 through 3 among its serviced TV projects.

Forests and greens around Sofia and the Vitosha foothills: Wooded areas on the edge of Sofia supplied the birch-lined woods for abduction backstory, searches, stakeouts and cabin stretches that define Absentia’s bleak mood. As per the Elle Canada report dated January 25, 2018, Stana Katic said,

“We also filmed in a birch forest, and the building next to the forest was a former concentration camp....There’s also lots of magic, like these beautiful medieval castles that are just unexpected gifts we would get traveling across the countryside.”

Note: All three seasons were filmed in Bulgaria, with Season 3 being explicitly set in Sofia during production. European detours in the story were largely achieved via Bulgarian locations and studio work rather than company moves to multiple countries.

Why does Bulgaria convincingly play Boston?

Sofia compacts dense urban grids, older European masonry, glass mid-rises, and industrial pockets within short radii, which is ideal for fast TV days. That variety allowed Absentia to collect multiple “Boston” looks with minimal movement, while Nu Boyana added backlot streets and large stages for FBI interiors and stunt control.

Keeping the same Bulgarian base across seasons ensured that lighting recipes, camera positions, and production design rules remained consistent, preserving the show’s uniform tone from year to year. Absentia is set in Boston on the page, but Bulgaria’s cost, scale, and look made the version on screen hold together.

Absentia: Production details and cast with location quotes

Key credits and rollout:

Created by Gaia Violo and Matt Cirulnick, with Season 1 directed by Oded Ruskin. The cast is led by Stana Katic as Emily Byrne, with Patrick Heusinger and Matthew Le Nevez among the principal cast members. Absentia premiered internationally on AXN and in the US on Prime Video, with Season 3 launching July 17, 2020. The series’ official production location is Bulgaria. As per the Elle Canada report dated January 25, 2018, Stana Katic said,

“It’s got it’s own charm, and it was instrumental in telling the story too. For instance, we were filming at one point in a tunnel and the tunnel was used at one point to store nuclear warheads.”

The line captures how shooting near charged landmarks deepened Absentia’s haunted feel. As per Stana Katic's Instagram post dated May 2021, Stana Katic wrote,

“When they asked me in January 2017 if I was ready to spend 3 years in Bulgaria shooting a cable TV series, I had no idea what I was in for.”

Why the team kept returning

The mix of Sofia streets and Nu Boyana stages allowed Absentia to toggle between exterior “Boston” plates and interior FBI builds without requiring a flying crew. Season 3’s return to Sofia underlined a strategy that balanced budget, speed, and look in one city. This is how Absentia turned Bulgaria into Boston, and why the show’s cold tone, forest chases, and FBI corridors feel of a piece across all three seasons.

Stay tuned for more updates.