1.
GV: film crew around jeep.
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2.
CU: Michael Caine and Rex Harrison seated in Land Rover talking to director Richard Fleischer (2 shots)
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SV: director Fleischer with camera crew
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SV: Caine out of vehicle and joining Harrison before walking on to set.
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CU: Fleischer looks on as Harrison and Caine walk towards Nomad (2 shots)
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CU: Harrison and Caine talking to Nomad who walks towards them and takes money from Caine. (3 shots)
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7.
CU: Fleischer talking to camera crew.
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8.
CU: Harrison seated with Beverly Johnson (2 shots)
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9.
CU: Harrison talking about film
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10.
CU: Caine answering question on slavery
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GV: film crew and camels in foreground.
1.49


HARRISON: "(Indistinct) take the script very largely, as I have made two more films with Richard Fleischer before this And I love working with him, and I thought it was a good story, yes."



REPORTER: "Will the public accept that slavery does exist today? Will they see that as reality?"



CAINE: "Oh, I think so, yes. I mean whether they accept it or not is beside the point. It does, and, and it is very hard even in doing a sort of interview. You see, modern slavery, everyone says' I do not understand what you are talking about'. So our job is to put that over, and, I think, we may well do it."



The cast of Ashanti, which is based on a work by the Spanish novelist Alberto Vasquez-Figueroa, also includes Omar Sharif and William Holden. Sharif is a wealthy Middle Eastern prince in the film who buys the doctor's wife from the slave trader, and who eventual allows her to escape to avoid an international scandal.




Initials RH/2220



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: British actors Rex Harrison and Michael Caine are among the international cast who are now making a film in Israel about modern slavery. They play important roles in "Ashanti", directed by American Richard Fleischer and brought to the screen by Swiss producer Georges-Alain Vuille. That slavery still flourishes in contemporary times is the premise for Ashanti. The story focuses on an English doctor's search for his African wife who has been kidnapped by a slave trader, played by Peter Ustinov. Numerous sites were chosen to simulate the West African cost, where Ashanti's story begins. After filming on locations throughout Kenya, the company moved to Israel in June for further shooting.

SYNOPSIS: The crew are spending two months in Israel.

Caine is playing the part of the doctor, David Linderby, and Harrison is Brian Walker, a representative of the London-based Anti-Slavery Society.

Richard Fleischer is one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, whose films include "Mandingo" and "Tora Tora Tora".

Here, he is directing a sequence in the desert near Elat in which Walker introduces Linderby to a nomad, Malik, who agrees to lead the doctor to the slave trader's camp for money. Playing Malik is Kabir Bedi, whose leading role in the television series "Sandokan" made him on of the most sought-after actors in Europe.

Bedi, the son of an English mother and an Indian father, is one of India's best known stars.

Playing the doctor's wife is Beverly Johnson, an American model who became the first black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue Magazine. Rex Harrison and Michael Caine spoke about the film's message.