07/12/2006

Starting next Monday, the Lithuanian Film Studios will welcome Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Eduardo Noriega, Ben Kingsley and Thomas Kretschmann, who are boarding US director Brad Anderson’s Transsiberian film (see news).

The new thriller by the director of Next Stop Wonderland and The Machinist [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is a mega-production of over $15m produced by Spanish production outfit Filmax Entertainment in co-production with Germany’s Universum Film. The film is a thriller about a US couple (Harrelson and Morton) traveling on the historical Trans-Siberian Railway train from China to Moscow who become pulled into a mysterious journey filled with deception and murder.

Filming in Lithuanian’s 60 year-old studios will last until February 22.

According to Donatas Zvalionis, head of production for the studios since 2004, where he has supervised some 18 productions (including Highlander: The Source and quality TV mini-series Elizabeth I and War and Peace), the studios are very competitive with their attractive prices, quality and experienced crew and fully-equipped facilities (apart from labs).

The next project to be shot at the studios in February is the English-language horror film War of the Dead by Finnish director Marko Mäkilaakso, starring Jouko Ahola and Michael Clifford. The studios are also major supporters and co-financiers of local Lithuanian films.

Films welcomed this year at the studios include Witches and Rain by Algimantas Puipa Puipa, produced by Uljana Kim (You Am I), and the upcoming project from star Lithuanian filmmaker Sarunas Bartas, Margiris: Duke of Samogitia will be produced by the studios with European co-production partners, with filming scheduled for 2007-2008.