Actor Val Kilmer to play journalist in Georgia war film

(AFP PHOTO FRANCOIS GUILLOT)

US actor Val Kilmer has arrived in Georgia to portray a journalist covering last year's Georgia-Russia war in a Hollywood film about the conflict, the movie's co-producer said Tuesday.

"He will take part in filming in (the Georgian city of) Gori and play the role of a journalist who covers last year's war," the co-producer, Papuna Davitaia, told AFP.

Davitaia refused to provide any further details about the role and said Kilmer would be in Georgia for a week of filming.

Georgian media on Tuesday noted Kilmer's resemblance to a Dutch cameraman, Stan Storimans of the RTL news channel, who was killed during a bombing raid in Gori, and speculated that his character would be based on Storimans. The 24 Saati (24 Hours) newspaper ran front-page photos comparing the two men.

Kilmer, known for his roles in "Top Gun" and as singer Jim Morrison in "The Doors," is the second Hollywood actor in Georgia this month for the film.

US actor Andy Garcia, who was nominated for an Oscar in 1991 for his role in "The Godfather: Part III," spent a few days in Tbilisi last week to portray Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in the film.

Finnish-American action movie director Renny Harlin announced in August he was shooting the film.

Best known for action movies such as "Die Hard 2" and "Cliffhanger," Harlin told Variety magazine he was keen to make a serious movie based on the conflict.

Harlin's film would follow an American journalist and a cameraman who get caught up in the fighting. Harlin said the movie would be a "strong anti-war statement."

Georgian media have raised questions about the film's impartiality, pointing out that co-producer Davitaia is a pro-Saakashvili member of parliament.

Georgia and Russia have competed to put their own spin on what happened during the war, which saw Russian forces pour into Georgia to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake the rebel region of South Ossetia.

Russian forces occupied swathes of Georgian territory and bombed targets across the country before mostly withdrawing into South Ossetia and another rebel Georgian region, Abkhazia, which Moscow later recognised as independent countries.

Tbilisi contends it was facing a large-scale Russian invasion before the attack on South Ossetia, while Moscow insists it was protecting Russian citizens and peacekeepers in the region from an unwarranted Georgian attack.