Coriolanus press conference

March 10, 2010 – Belgrade, Serbia

Ralph Fiennes and producers Colin Vaines and Gabrielle Tana announced the start of shooting of the movie Coriolanus in Belgrade today.

Set in the early years of the Roman Republic, Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s most politically challenging examinations of the way power corrupts. Fiennes’ version is a modern day representation that will be filmed in and around the Serbian capital, including key scenes at the Serbian Parliament building. As well as Fiennes in the title role, Coriolanus will also star Gerald Butler, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox, as well as Serbian actors Dragan Micanovic and Slavko Stimac.

Fiennes has further assembled an A-list crew of film professionals including director of photography Barry Ackroyd and Oscar winning sound mixer Ray Beckett. Some of Serbia’s most talented crew will also participate, notably costume designer Bojana Nikitovic. The local production company is Work In Progress.

Fiennes chose Serbia as a production location after considering several other cities including Zagreb, Budapest and Rome itself. In Serbia he found the perfect combination of architecture, governmental on location support and local crew.

The Serbia Film Commission has been working tirelessly to bring Coriolanus production to Belgrade, including co-hosting a fund-raising function for the film at the Cannes Film Festival 2009.