The Philosopher, 1st Hollywood movie to be shot wholly in RI

The Philosopher, a movie that has immediately attracts the attention of journalists in Indonesia.

The reason is the movie is a Hollywood production, involving producers and foreign filmmakers, as well as the cast who have been involved in large-scale Hollywood production. But, the best part is, it will be shot in Indonesia. Yes, The Philosopher will be the first Hollywood movie to be shot wholly in Indonesia!

The Philosopher, as it turns out, is a production of SCTV, along with Hollywood producers, George Zakk and Cybill. It will be directed by John Huddles, and holds the lineup of cast consisting of Bonnie Wright (better known as Ginny Weasley from the Harry Potter series), James Darcy (the actor who played Lt. Tom Pullings in Peter Weirs Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), Daryl Sabara, (who is perhaps best known for playing Juni Cortez in the Spy Kids franchise), Freddy Stroma, Sophie Lowe, Rhys Wakefield (who is best known for his role in James Camerons Sanctum), and one of the Indonesian actresses involved, Cinta Laura Kiehl.

In the press conference held on Friday, 24 June 2011, representative from SCTV, Harsiwi Achmad, said they were very proud to participate in collaboration, directly supports the production of The Philosophers, a Hollywood- class movie which will be filmed at several places in Indonesia.

This collaboration holds a huge significance to the television and film industry in Indonesia. Its not easy to gain trust so that the production team of The Philosophers to make them willing to to do the filming in Indonesia which will take a long time, he explained in a press release.

Harsiwi added, this movie will be shown throughout the world, not only in local theaters. However, when asked regarding the issue on import taxes on which has lead to the halt of playing Hollywood movies in Indonesia, he replied, Were optimistic. Obviously this film will get a world-class film distributor. We still have a long way to go, filming starts tomorrow, and ! then it will pass through various stages of production. So well see. Nevertheless, we are optimistic will be aired in Indonesia.

According to Harsiwi, through The Philosophers, Indonesia gets the opportunity to promote Indonesias name in the world of international cinema. Not only that, this is also a golden opportunity to showcase Indonesias beautiful sceneries, natural flora and fauna as well as our rich and diverse culture and traditions.

Meanwhile, producer George Zakk and Cybill, and director John Huddles said the film will be about 20 teenagers from various nations, who attended an international school in Jakarta, and studied philosophy in a class taught by a teacher (played by James Darcy).

They were then given an assignment, which is actually an experiment by their teacher. The students will have to go through some kind of tests and then only 10 people will be chosen, who will be involved in this experiment to improve the human race against the threat of nuclear danger.

John Huddles also said this thriller-genre movie will be filmed at various undisclosed places in Indonesia, including in one of the temples.

The Philosophers has started filming on Saturday, 25th June 2011 and will take approximately seven weeks to complete filming.

GNFI would like to applaud Indonesian ambassador to Washington DC, Dino Patti Djalal and staffs of the embassy for the efforts in playing a major role in bringing The Philosopher to Indonesia. Well done, sir!

Source: Boleh.com