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Avel director happy with filming conditions in Minsk

US-based film director William Devital, who is shooting Avel (Abel), a controversial movie funded by the Belarusian government in Minsk, said that he was happy with the filming conditions in the Belarusian capital, BelaPAN said.

"Everyone is helping, no one has ever said 'no.' The very fact that we are allowed to film a scene at this location says much," said the former stuntman, who was born Vitaly Vasilkov in the Soviet Union.

"When I come back home, I will tell everyone about that. I hope very much that I will be able to bring crews from Hollywood here for filming."

Mr. Devital denied that some scenes in the movie were based on actual events, in particular the December 19, 2010 post-election street protest in Minsk.

"We are shooting an action drama movie about brothers. The main goal of the movie is to explain to people that every person is to make a choice," he said.

"Such events may happen anywhere, in any country. We are not reconstructing what happened. What we want to show is that both the protesters and those behind the doors are good people. But there's a bunch of provocateurs… These are provocateurs who throw bottles, throw stones, start riots. Any normal person is unable to remain calm when a stone is hurled at him. We wanted to show all this and tell people to think before making the right choice in their life."

The director said that scenes featuring Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts would be filmed in the United States, but the Hollywood actor would still visit Minsk.