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FRENCH FILM-MAKER
HEADS TO CAMBODIA
Copyright 2002 Associated Press
[ September 6th 2002 ]
Renowned
French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud, who directed
Seven Years in Tibet, will start shooting a feature
film in Cambodia later this year for which he
will import 20 tiger cubs from Europe, officials
said. Two Brothers, a story about two orphaned
tiger cubs, is set in a South Asian jungle in
the 1920s. Filming will begin in October and last
five months, making it the largest foreign movie
project yet in Cambodia, said Som Sokun, a Culture
Ministry official.
It will
be the second international film to be shot primarily
in Cambodia in two years. Actor Matt Dillon's
directional debut, City of Ghosts, was shot in
Cambodia in 2000 and 2001. It is slated to open
at the Toronto Film Festival this month and in
U.S. cinemas in October. Also in 2000, several
scenes for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, starring Angelina
Jolie, were shot at the 12th century temple Angkor
Wat, the world's largest religious monument. Two
Brothers will also incorporate scenes shot at
Angkor Wat, officials said.
To play
the part of the main characters, Annaud will use
20 tiger cubs brought from a circus in France,
said Som Sokun, director of the ministry's Cinema
Department. "They are tamed and trained and safe,"
he said. Only a handful of tigers are believed
to remain free in the Cambodian wilderness, mostly
in the Cardamom Mountains in the southwest Cambodia.
Annaud,
a native of France who lives mostly in Hollywood,
has made more than a dozen films, including Quest
for Fire (1982), Seven Years in Tibet (1997),
and Enemy at the Gates, (2001). He has also shot
films in Vietnam, Argentina, Chile and India.
French officials involved in the project declined
to reveal details about the production costs or
actors but said it would in English language.
Scenes
will be shot at many locations in Cambodia, including
the Banteay Srey temple known for its detailed
bas-relief stone etchings, located in northern
Cambodia, some 35 kilometers (20 miles) north
of Angkor Wat. But the main location will be the
aging French colonial buildings around Phnom Penh's
Central Post Office, Som Sokun said.
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