Gerard Depardieu to play Joseph Stalin in new filmDecember 30, 2015 - 15:00 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Larger-than-life French actor Gerard Depardieu is to play Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in a forthcoming movie, his press representative said Tuesday, December 29, according to AFP. Depardieu -- made a Russian citizen by Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin -- will feature in a screen adaptation of a 2013 novel called "Le Divan de Staline" (Stalin's Sofa), the representative said. The source confirmed a story in the movie business journal The Hollywood Reporter, which said the film will be directed by French actress and director Fanny Ardant. The novel, written by Jean-Daniel Baltassat, is set in the Soviet Union of the 1950s, centering on a young artist who is commissioned to create a monument to Stalin but faces scrutiny by the KGB, the Reporter said. The film will be produced by a French-Portuguese company, Leopardo Filmes, while the Moscow-based studio Mosfilm will provide costumes and props. Depardieu, 67, is one of France's most successful actors, winning huge praise for his roles in "Cyrano de Bergerac," "Les Miserables," "Jean de Florette" and other films. He is best known abroad for the romantic comedy "Green Card." But he has repeatedly made headlines in his country of birth for stirring controversy and backing unpopular causes. Depardieu was given Russian citizenship by presidential decree in 2013 after publicly criticising France's high taxes and taking up residence abroad. In separate interviews this year, he has praised Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko -- lashed for rights abuses by monitoring groups -- as "a nice guy" and described the United States as "a people who have constantly destroyed others." "They fought each other, destroyed the Indians, after that they perpetrated slavery, then there was the civil war. After that, they were the first to use the atomic bomb... No, I prefer being Russian," he reportedly said. Related links: Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |