TBILISI: U.S. stars Andy Garcia and Sharon Stone brought Hollywood glamor to ex-Soviet Tbilisi Sunday at the premiere of a film about the Georgia-Russia war that portrays the conflict as Kremlin aggression.
“Five Days of August,” directed by veteran Renny Harlin and co-produced by a Georgian minister, focuses on a fictional American reporter trying to establish the truth about atrocities committed during the five-day conflict in 2008.
“It’s an anti-war movie,” said Garcia, who plays the role of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, at a news conference in Tbilisi.
“We see the tragedies that arose so hopefully they won’t happen again,” said the actor, once Oscar-nominated for his role in “The Godfather: Part III.”
Harlin said the film was about “a small country fighting for independence and freedom.”
Hundreds died in the brief war which saw Moscow’s forces pour into neighboring Georgia to repel Tbilisi’s attempt to retake the Kremlin-backed rebel region of South Ossetia.
One of the film’s producers is a minister in the pro-Western Saakashvili administration, although he rejected suggestions that the film was a biased portrayal of the conflict.
“Of course it is not propaganda,” demurred Minister for Diaspora Issues Mirza Davitaia. “They based this movie on international reports from Human Rights Watch and the EU.”
The Georgian authorities allowed Harlin to use their soldiers, tanks and helicopters to shoot scenes of firefights and fleeing refugees, although they have denied directly funding the film.
Harlin told reporters the project cost $12 million, denying previous estimates of $20 million, although it remains one of the most expensive films ever shot in the impoverished country.
Sharon Stone did not appear in the film but attended the premiere and a charity event that followed to raise money for the families of those who suffered during the war.
“I’ve very happy that a Hollywood director has filmed what happened in our country, where we have a big enemy,” grinned onlooker Niko Bagashvili.
“This is a small country,” said Nana Ivanishvili, “and it’s great that famous people like Garcia have come here.”
A small group of protesters also gathered outside the hotel where Garcia and Harlin were holding their press conference. One banners bore the slogan “Cheap propaganda is not art.”
Both countries have competed to put their own spin on the deadly 2008 conflict, after which Moscow recognized South Ossetia and another Georgian rebel region Abkhazia as independent states and permanently stationed troops there.