The legendary British actor Ralph Fiennes is directing a movie about the renowned ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev these days – in Rijeka!
It was confirmed the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc is currently serving as a filming location for the biopic, an adaptation of Nureyev’s biography written by Julie Kavanagh. Nureyev is played by the Russian ballet dancer Oleg Ivenko, and the rest of the cast includes names such as Adele Exarchopoulos, Sergei Polunin and Chulpan Khamatova.
Apart from Rijeka, a part of the biopic titled ‘The White Crow’ is to be filmed in Istria as well. Fiennes visited Croatia in June, looking for convenient filming locations. He met with Rade Šerbedžija and Lenka Udovički in Zagreb, and departed for Istria a couple of days later. It wasn’t his first time visiting the gorgeous peninsula, as he was already taken by the scenery and architecture when he played the title role in the play ‘Richard III’, staged by Šerbedžija’s Ulysses Theatre on Brijuni islands.
The movie is getting filmed under a veil of secrecy, and the media hasn’t been allowed to visit the set yet.
Fiennes stated the movie is primarily a story about an uncompromising spirit, but it also touches on the subjects of homeland and limiting ideologies. It will also shed some light on Nureyev’s legacy, the ballet culture he helped promote in Russia. He was called ‘a master of dance’ and is known as one of the most talented male dance artists and choreographers in history.
After they’re done with filming in Croatia, the crew is heading to Saint Petersburg and Paris.
Source: Glas Istre
