ANGELINA TO ARRIVE AT COAST TODAY
Copyright 2002 www.tombraiderchronicles.com Source: The Namibian

[ March 5th 2002 ]

Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie will arrive at Swakopmund today to start shooting the international feature film Beyond Borders. The coastal town has been a hive of activity since early this year when preparations for the movie started, The Namibian reports today.

Despite attempts by the producers to keep the event as quiet as possible for security reasons, many rumours and stories started doing the rounds. All crew members had to sign a contract of confidentiality which prevented them from saying anything about the movie. The silence from the producer's side will be broken on Wednesday with a planned press conference and photo opportunity for the Namibian media at the coastal town.

Cid Swank, Unit Publicist, said this is a unique event as Hollywood movie sets usually follow a closed set policy, which means no information is given to the media while the movie is in production. She told The Namibian yesterday that the producer, Lloyd Phillips, decided to make an exception in the case of Namibia "as it is such a big event for the country and the news has already caused so much public interest."

A front-page report in The Namibian in January caused a wave of public interest and countless calls to the newspaper's offices for more information. Swank said it will be the first time the producer, director and main actors will be talking to the press about the movie.

Directed by Martin Campbell, Beyond Borders is a love story between an American named Sarah Jordan (Jolie) and British doctor Nick Ward (Clive Owen). The story takes place during the course of many years and is set against the backdrop of worldwide humanitarian efforts.

Producers had originally penciled the scenic geographical contrasts of Kenya for the movie, but South Africa won the Hollywood production after a government official mistook the word Ebola for Abiola, Nigeria's late presidential hopeful, and refused filming permission because Kenya was a friend of Nigeria and did not want to tarnish the name of the country's leader.