Biopic on South Korean opera singer to film in Serbia

BELGRADE (AFP) ― South Korean film production company Morein Group will start shooting a biopic of famed opera singer Bae Jae-chul in Serbia next month, local officials said Wednesday.

“My film ‘Miracle’ will be the first Korean film ever shot in Serbia and it will be sensational in Korea,” producer T.J. Chung was quoted as saying in a statement by the Serbia Film Association.

The co-production between Korea and Japan tells the story of the internationally-acclaimed South Korean tenor who performed in numerous European operas, but lost his voice at the peak of his career due to thyroid cancer.

“Miracle” will be directed by Kim Sang-Man, while Bae will be played by prominent South Korean actor Yoo Ji-tae, the association said.

The Serbian Film Association promotes the Balkan nation as an attractive destination for foreign film crews.

In 2010, famed British actor Ralph Fiennes shot his directorial debut, the Shakespearean tragedy “Coriolanus” in which he stars alongside Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave, in Belgrade.

The former Yugoslavia was one of the prime filming destinations for U.S. and European productions during the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to a wide range of locations and cheaper production costs.