Shooting for first Chinese-Serbian co-production film starts in Belgrade

Filming for Belgrade Escape started in the Serbian capital on Thursday, marking the first co-production movie between Serbia and China.

Filming of the movie co-produced by Chinese Fujian Broken Films and Serbian Emote Film, opened at a ceremony at the Topcider Park in a historic part of Belgrade, attended by the representatives of the Chinese embassy, Serbian ministry of culture, Film Center of Serbia and the media.

Producers revealed that the story of Belgrade Escape directed by Wang Zhongyan is about a woman searching for her father who moved to Belgrade 20 years ago with “reconciliation, maturing and family love” as the main topics, but that it also includes “action scenes and shooting.”

Lian Kai, who plays the role of the father and appeared in front of journalists with a cut on his left cheek, revealed that the crew already filmed three scenes on Thursday morning, in one of which his character gets injured by Serbian actor Dragan Micanovic.

“My character spent 20 years in Belgrade struggling to make a living from some illegal trade. Suddenly the daughter he didn’t know about appears in Belgrade. The story is about this relationship between daughter and father. Also, I owe a lot of money to Dragan Micanovic’s character and he is forcing me to do bad things,” he explained.

Micanovic recalled his previous appearances in China, in a theater play of the Yugoslavian Drama Theater in Beijing and Shanghai in 2017, as well as his earlier work on a British movie in Shanghai several years ago.

“It is my great pleasure to work on the first Chinese-Serbian co-production film. I am sure that this will be one of my most-viewed movies,” Micanovic told journalists, confirming that he is playing the role of a villain.

Producers told journalists that the movie is budgeted at around 1.5 million euros ($1.75 million) and that the 30 days of shooting in Belgrade will conclude on August 23.

Boban Jevtic, director of the Film Center of Serbia, stressed the importance of the first Sino-Serbian film project, explaining that the film was the result of good cooperation between the two countries and their cultural institutions.

The film crew and guests celebrated Belgrade Escape with champagne, symbolically unveiling a film camera to mark the beginning of the shooting.