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U.S. Actor Films in Saakashvili?€™s Office

U.S. actor Andy Garcia, second right, playing the part of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili during filming in the presidential office in Tbilisi on Monday. Renny Harlin, the director of ?€?Die Hard 2: Die Harder,?€? is making a movie based on the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008. Irakli Gedenidze

TBILISI, Georgia — U.S. actor Andy Garcia arrived in Tbilisi on Monday to begin work on a film about Georgia’s August 2008 war with Russia in which he will play Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Garcia will be in Tbilisi for “several days to shoot his scenes in the movie,” said Tamar Liluashvili, a spokeswoman for Gold Invest, which is handling the logistics and public relations for the filmmakers in Georgia.

Renny Harlin, director of “Die Hard 2: Die Harder,” is making the film for Los Angeles-based Rexmedia, Liluashvili said. She said the film did not yet have a title.

Eka Sharashidze, Saakashvili’s chief of staff, said permission had been given for filming in the presidential office and palace. Saakashvili “appreciates that someone as popular as Andy Garcia is in Tbilisi and is playing the role,” Sharashidze said by telephone.

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