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Azerbaijani cinemas cancel Russian war movie
Februray 18, 2012
[Summary: In spite of their project being 88% government funded,
producers say "August. Eight" is not political. Commentators in
Georgia call it pro-Kremlin and criticize the portrayal of Georgians
as aggressors.]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Just days before the premiere, two cinemas in
Azerbaijan have decided not to show a new Russian movie set during the
2008 Russia-Georgia war.
Much of the new movie `August. Eight' was shot in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia and the backdrop to the story is the war as seen from the
Russian side of events, but director Dzhanik Fayziev rejects that it
is a political film.
21 February is the world premiere of `August. Eight'. Before its
release in Baku, a campaign was started against it on Facebook driven
by Georgian-Azerbaijani solidarity regarding breakaway areas. Russia
does not support Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Facebook campaign was successful and lead Park Cinema to pull the
film off its schedule, as well as recalling all advertisement
material. Now also Azerbaijan Cinema has followed suit.
`August. Eight' has been criticized as Kremlin propaganda by
commentators in Georgia; it portrays Georgia as the aggressor and
filming took place inside both of Georgia's disputed regions. Some
scenes were filmed on an elaborate set built in Sukhumi.
Filming took place between March and August 2011. In addition to
Sukhumi and Tskhinvali, scenes were also filmed at spots around the
North Caucasus, including the city Tkuarchal, the villages Ursdon and
Nar, along the Georgian military highway and in the Darial gorge. A
trailer was released onto the internet.
Fantasy. 33 out of 120 minutes is a parallel story line which takes
place in the imagination of a young boy, made by computer generated
imagery. The script is written by Michael Lerner and based on a fiairy
tale by Danish writer H.C. Andersen.
The project was heavily supported by the Russian government. Apart
from being almost entirely financed by the state film fund - 16.7
million out of its total production cost of 19 million US dollars -
actors also received training at a Russian Ministry of Internal
Affairs base.
But director Fayziev maintains that it is not political, but part love
story, part fantasy. Some of the story is based on Danish writer H.C.
Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen. It was developed into a film
script by the American Michael Alan Lerner, an experienced war
reporter who in 2004 made a film called `Deadlines' about the
difficulty of reporting the truth in times of conflict, set in the
Beirut war in 1983.
The fantasy parts of `August. Eight' take place inside a little boy's
mind, made by computer generated imagery which takes up 33 out of the
film's 120 minutes. The rest is about his mother, played by Svetlana
Ivanova, who comes after him to Tskhinvali to save him after the war
breaks out.
This is the third film made with the 2008 South Ossetia war as a
backdrop. The Russian-made `War 08.08.08' was released only three
months after the war and perceived as heavily politicized. `5 Days of
August' of last year was a Hollywood film with Georgian scriptwriter
and co-producer. It was not financed by the Georgian government except
in the early stages, but is widely perceived as telling the story of
the war from President Mikheil Saakashvili's point of view. It starred
Andy Garcia and had a budget of 12 million US dollars. `August. Eight'
cost 19 million dollars to make.
Azerbaijani cinemas cancel Russian war movie
Februray 18, 2012
[Summary: In spite of their project being 88% government funded,
producers say "August. Eight" is not political. Commentators in
Georgia call it pro-Kremlin and criticize the portrayal of Georgians
as aggressors.]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Just days before the premiere, two cinemas in
Azerbaijan have decided not to show a new Russian movie set during the
2008 Russia-Georgia war.
Much of the new movie `August. Eight' was shot in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia and the backdrop to the story is the war as seen from the
Russian side of events, but director Dzhanik Fayziev rejects that it
is a political film.
21 February is the world premiere of `August. Eight'. Before its
release in Baku, a campaign was started against it on Facebook driven
by Georgian-Azerbaijani solidarity regarding breakaway areas. Russia
does not support Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Facebook campaign was successful and lead Park Cinema to pull the
film off its schedule, as well as recalling all advertisement
material. Now also Azerbaijan Cinema has followed suit.
`August. Eight' has been criticized as Kremlin propaganda by
commentators in Georgia; it portrays Georgia as the aggressor and
filming took place inside both of Georgia's disputed regions. Some
scenes were filmed on an elaborate set built in Sukhumi.
Filming took place between March and August 2011. In addition to
Sukhumi and Tskhinvali, scenes were also filmed at spots around the
North Caucasus, including the city Tkuarchal, the villages Ursdon and
Nar, along the Georgian military highway and in the Darial gorge. A
trailer was released onto the internet.
Fantasy. 33 out of 120 minutes is a parallel story line which takes
place in the imagination of a young boy, made by computer generated
imagery. The script is written by Michael Lerner and based on a fiairy
tale by Danish writer H.C. Andersen.
The project was heavily supported by the Russian government. Apart
from being almost entirely financed by the state film fund - 16.7
million out of its total production cost of 19 million US dollars -
actors also received training at a Russian Ministry of Internal
Affairs base.
But director Fayziev maintains that it is not political, but part love
story, part fantasy. Some of the story is based on Danish writer H.C.
Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen. It was developed into a film
script by the American Michael Alan Lerner, an experienced war
reporter who in 2004 made a film called `Deadlines' about the
difficulty of reporting the truth in times of conflict, set in the
Beirut war in 1983.
The fantasy parts of `August. Eight' take place inside a little boy's
mind, made by computer generated imagery which takes up 33 out of the
film's 120 minutes. The rest is about his mother, played by Svetlana
Ivanova, who comes after him to Tskhinvali to save him after the war
breaks out.
This is the third film made with the 2008 South Ossetia war as a
backdrop. The Russian-made `War 08.08.08' was released only three
months after the war and perceived as heavily politicized. `5 Days of
August' of last year was a Hollywood film with Georgian scriptwriter
and co-producer. It was not financed by the Georgian government except
in the early stages, but is widely perceived as telling the story of
the war from President Mikheil Saakashvili's point of view. It starred
Andy Garcia and had a budget of 12 million US dollars. `August. Eight'
cost 19 million dollars to make.