Gabriel Garko to star in “Lazarat burning” Hollywood production
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- "It's a beautiful story and I love my role although initially the character might seem negative you later understand why he behaves that way and his actions are justified, making him more humane," says the Italian star
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TIRANA, Sept. 15 - Italian actor Gabriel Garko will star in "Lazarat Burning" a Hollywood movie based on the real story of world famous notorious Albanian marijuana growing village of Lazarat until mid-2015 when a police operation cracked down dozens of plantations of cannabis.
“It's a movie about a young man who is indirectly hurt. His family is killed and to take revenge he targets killing several people part of a gang located in Lazarat, as the whole story focuses on Lazarat," Garko told reporters in Tirana accompanied by U.S.-based Mercury Films staff.
"It's a beautiful story and I love my role although initially the character might seem negative you later understand why he behaves that way and his actions are justified, making him more humane," he added.
While shooting for the film is scheduled to kick off next April, Garko says he will have to live for a while in Albania and even go to Lazarat to get familiar with his starring role.
U.S. based Mercury Films describes its new production as "an action thriller based on true life events set in Europe, specifically in the heart of Albania."
"It’s a film that will surely leave movie goers on the edge of their seats. Viewers will be transported to the underbelly world of narcotics, crime, deceit, infamy, and danger lurking on every corner.”
Part of the movie will also be shot in Albania, showcasing some local Albanian actors.
Lazarat, 200 kilometers south of the capital, Tirana, was cracked down in mid-2015 in a police operation that destroyed 102 tons of marijuana and 530,000 marijuana plants with an estimated market value at the time of some 6 billion euros, which is more than half of the country’s annual gross domestic product.
While the southern Albanian village has now been abandoned as a cannabis site, marijuana growing has spread nationwide with police destroying more than 1 million plants this year.
Residents of this village fear the movie scheduled for release in mid-2017 will further worsen stereotypes about them and Albania as a cannabis producing country.
