Leading Russianproduction outfit Top Line Productions, headed by Sergei Gribkov, is set to begin shooting this week on a newproject, car racing drama Eau Rouge (Krasnaya Voda).

The film will be directed byyoung Russian director Dmitry Cherkasov with a script by playwright OlegAntonov. Shooting, which will last throughout the summer, will begin at the SPA track in Belgium, moving on to famous Imola track inSan Marino, and finish up in France.

Nikolai Fomenko plays the maincharacter, a Russian race car driver named Porsche. In real life, Fomenko isnot only one of Russia's most popular actors, he is also well knownamong racing fans as a FIA GT motorcar race driver.

In the film his dangerous lifeas a racecar driver puts his family life in jeopardy. Plunged into depression by family problemsPorsche has to undergo the most important test of his life - the notorious EauRouge, the most dangerous corner in the Ardennes Mountains circuit.

Gribkov said he was making a bidfor the international market with the production, and will be hiring a number of as yet unnamed international actors for the shoot. "There are onlyfour Russian actors in the entire cast. All others are foreign. The film ismainly in English, but Russian actors will be speaking Russian to each other.Our team is international. The cameraman is Jean Pierre Sauvaire (Taxi,Vidocq, Agents Secrets)."

Founded in 2001, Top Line hasbecome one of the leading Russian production companies. It made its mark with the cult Russian teencomedy, Don't Even Think, (Dazhe Ne Dumai), which went on to become oneof the biggest box office hits in recent years with more than $1m at the localbox office in 2003.

With the sequel, Don't EvenThink! Independence Play, racking up a total of $2.24m this year, it established a successful franchise.

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