The actor, a Russian citizen since 2013, will shoot a film about a French squadron that went to fight in East Prussia in 1945. According to the Russian news agency Tass, the feature film will follow the 2/30 Normandie-Niémen hunting regiment , a French military unit, during its intervention alongside the Red Army in 1945 in East Prussia.
Filming will take place in the city of Kaliningrad, formerly Konigsberg, where the battle took place.
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The role that Gérard Depardieu will play is currently unclear: it is not known whether he will officiate as a director (cap he has already worn a few times, especially for a short film in the film
Paris, je t'aime
in 2006) , as an actor or both.
Russian citizen since 2013
The project was announced during the Baltic International Film Festival, an annual Russian meeting where Gérard Depardieu is guest of honor, through a press release from the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Kaliningrad region Andrei Yermak: “
Renowned actor Gérard Depardieu and his team will soon start shooting a film in the Kaliningrad region on the legendary Normandy-Niemen squadron.
This project is really interesting, because it is an important part of the history of the region.
"
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Appreciated by the Russian public and by President Vladimir Poutine, Gérard Depardieu has often praised the country's merits, qualifying it in particular as a “
great democracy
”. Conversely, he has regularly been critical of France. In October 2020, he estimated in front of the cameras from
7 to 8
that the Hexagon was "
the opposite of human rights
".
