| August War Film and Andy Garcia as Saakashvili |
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20/10/2009 11:15 (31 Day 20:58 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- According to Civil Georgia, sets are being built outside the Parliament preparing ground for a scene that will revive August 12, 2008 rally when tens of thousands of Georgian gathered to show unity amid war with Russia.
The filming of the scene will be part of yet untitled movie about the last year’s August war, directed by Renny Harlin, best known for his Hollywood big-budget action movies such as Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger.
Andy Garcia, who took on the role of President Saakashvili , started shooting in the Georgian president’s palace on October 19; before arriving in Tbilisi , he met with Saakashvili in Batumi. The scene in the presidential palace in Tbilisi involves the Georgian President discussing tactics with his aides amid Russian invasion, according to the Georgian co-producers.
One of the co-producer is a ruling party lawmaker, Papuna (Mirza) Davitaia.
Another scene, in which Garcia will be shot, according to Georgian co-producers of the film, will be outside the Parliament on October 20 to depict the rally, which was also attended last August by leaders from the Baltic States and also by the President of Poland.
The main plot of the film follows an American journalist – played by British actor Rupert Friend, and his cameraman who get caught in the midst of the August war.
Some battle scenes were shot in Tsalka, south of Georgia and also in Gori, the town, which along with Tskhinvali suffered most from the August war.
Shooting of the movie, which Harlin described on his blog as “my big war movie”, started earlier this month and is expected to be over in November. Harlin, who is also know for shooting the Hollywood’s one of the biggest box office flops - Cutthroat Island, also says the movie about Georgia would be “antiwar statement.”
The film with reported budget of up to USD 20 million is expected to be premiered in May, 2010 – about year after the Russian state television premiered earlier this year a Russian film about the August war, depicting the Russian official version of events.
Meanwhile, it emerged on October 19 that Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, who visited South Ossetia this month, turned down a Russian offer to direct another film about the war.
“I didn't accept it because I have a binding contract for the next four years,” he told Reuters.
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