Subject: New movie by Oliver Stone about NATO and Kosovo
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 09:13:20 -0800

Stone hires RAF bases to shoot anti-Nato film,
Sunday Times, Nov 21

HOLLYWOOD is to use British military bases to film a big-budget movie critical of Nato's conduct of the war in Kosovo, writes Nicholas Hellen. Oliver Stone, the director of the anti-war movies Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, is in advanced talks to shoot the #45m film in Britain next spring.

Controversy about the project will raise serious questions about how far Britain's image abroad should be compromised for economic gain.

Scripts for the film, Beyond Borders, which will feature a love affair between two aid workers, played by Kevin Costner and Catherine Zeta-Jones, are closely guarded. A spokesman for Stone declined to comment.

But a Hollywood source close to the project said an important element of the film would be set in Kosovo, and would take an "adversarial" stance. Stone has a record of igniting controversy, with conspiracy epics such as Nixon and JFK. He was also accused of sparking copycat violence with the film Natural Born Killers.

Critics of the Nato campaign argue that the allied military intervention accelerated the ethnic cleansing of the Kosovo Albanians that it was intended to halt. They also argue that the bombing campaign destroyed civilian, rather than military targets. The aftermath of the war has seen the emergence of revenge cleansing of Serbs by the Kosovans.

Britain has attempted to open up the use of defence facilities and service personnel to film makers, after the loss of lucrative Hollywood productions to rival locations. Ireland was chosen for a large part of the Mel Gibson film Braveheart and the Steven Spielberg movie Saving Private Ryan.

It recently succeeded in fending off a strong campaign by the Irish government to woo Spielberg and his co-producer, Tom Hanks, for the "sequel" - a #63m television series about the second world war. But, in a separate move, George Lucas, the director of Star Wars, switched production of two prequels from Britain to Australia.

The Kosovo production is in negotiations with the Ministry of Defence to employ disused RAF bases to stage spectacular bombings. Although contracts have not been signed, officials say that they will co-operate.

A British film source defended the MoD's decision to take the money. "At least they are then in a position to exert some influence on the tone," he said. "The days when the armed services could expect to be portrayed positively are long gone."

Shooting on Beyond Borders is due to begin in April next year. It will finish in July, after stints in north Africa and eastern Europe.

The MoD said: "We are as helpful as possible with filming requests where operational commitments allow. We charge commerical rates and this is good for the government and for the UK in general. We would consider any request from Oliver Stone."