30.04.2010.

Minister Sutanovac visits “Coriolanus” set

Defence Minister Dragan Šutanovac visited today the crew of the “Coriolanus” film, capturing the scenes in the casemates of the Military Museum in Belgrade from 28th April. These are very dynamic scenes in which the main character Coriolanus, played by Ralph Fiennes, gets into enemy headquarters, whose Commander is interpreted by one of the most popular Hollywood actors, Gerard Butler.

The Defence Minister talked with the producers of the film and the main protagonists, actors Gerard Butler and Ralph Fiennes; for Ralph Fiennes this film is also a directorial debut.

- I am very pleased that we have helped take this movie, which promotes Serbia and the Ministry of Defence, Minister Šutanovac said and expressed hope that "Coriolanus" achieved notable success in film festivals around the world. He noted that the Ministry of Defence in recent years helped in the realisation of a number of film projects in Serbia and will do so in the future.

- This is the promotion of the whole country, and all that is good for Serbia, it is good for the Armed Forces, too. We believe that such activities, among other things, contribute to the promotion of the military profession and we are extremely pleased to participate in them, Šutanovac said.

According to the Minister, culture and sports are the best way to promote any country. Ministry of Defence does this by performances of the Artistic Ensemble “Stanislav Bini?ki” and the Guards Orchestra, as well as by exhibitions in the Gallery of the House of the Armed Forces.

Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces have provided considerable support to film houses which are co-producers of “Coriolanus”. Tanks and howitzers for the needs of film shooting were rented from the Serbian Armed Forces, and during the film shooting these were managed and handled by thirty members of the First Brigade and the Serbian Armed Forces Training Command.

In addition to the space of the Military Museum, the entire film crew was provided with parking in the city centre, in Katani?eva Street, by the former building of the Military Technical Institute, and also in front of the Military High School in Dedinje.

Director of the production company “Hermetof Pictures”, Živojin Petrovi? expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces for the hospitality, help and support they have provided during the film shooting in Serbia.

Slavko Štimac, one of the domestic actors, who plays in “Coriolanus” film, said that the impressions from the film setting were excellent, the space of the Military Museum looks fantastic and that is the right choice for the scenes that have been captured this day.

- I have been very long in the film industry, Štimac said, and I wish to emphasize that the cooperation with the Armed Forces has always been good.

One of the producers of the film Gabrielle Tana said that the support of the Ministry and the Army was of utmost importance.

- You'll see when the film is over, what we have done here in terms of production, could not have been done so well anywhere else, she said.

Filming the scenes in the Military Museum ends on 1st May.