Spartacus Came to Bistritza Standartnews.com, 2003 by Lyudmila Parvanova A pink sign reading 'Spartacus' at the road fork points to Bistritza. The filming of the four series of the American production 'Spartacus' that started on May 26 is in full swing. Some of the mass and battle scenes have been shot near Rudartzy. Some of the settings for the film are in the Cinema Center, too. In the amphitheater Goran Visnjic, the new idol of world cinema, fights with a colored rival. The Hollywood star plays the main part, that of the Thracian gladiator, who once headed the revolt of the slaves. During the break director Robert Dornheim is talkative. He stresses the strong Eastern European presence in the film - he himself is of Romanian-Austrian origin and Goran Visnjic is a Croat, the locations are in Bulgaria and with the participation of Bulgarian actors, stuntmen and technical staff. Alexander Metodiev is the Bulgarian cinema producer. Stuntman Ivailo Dimitrov, understudy of Visnjic, explains that today he showed him only some basic parts of the scrimmage and the actor himself took part in the fight. The two of them trained together during the preparation for the film. Elidjah, the seven-month baby of producer Adam Shapiro,is one of the attractions. The small girl didn't utter a single sound when silence was necessary for the photos. Only two days ago actor Lyubo Neikov who played the cook, was 'beheaded'. We learn that Hristo Shopov, Valentin Ganev, Krassimir Kutzuparov, Dobrin Dosev and Kiril Efremov are among the Bulgarian actors who play soldiers and heralds in the most expensive film that has been ever shot in Bulgaria. After a month or so, in the yard of Boyana Cinema Center the center of ancient Rome in miniature will be ready - with the Coliseum, the Senate, the slave market and the main Gate of Rome. Evgenii Mihailov, head of 'Boyana Film' studio, explains that all workers are busy in both the carpentry shop and the workshop for plastic ware and accessories. The shooting there is to start at the end of July and will finish till the middle of August. The film which is an 'Universal' production, will be ready till the end of this year and is meant for a US film channel."