On the set

Smith as Sean and Maguire as Dana get stopped at a roadblock

It looks like location filming in Kampot will be finished this week for the Sean Flynn and Dana Stone-inspired movie The Road to Freedom. Under the control of baby-faced director Brendan Moriarty, who used to live in Kampot, filming is ahead of schedule, with the fictional movie slated for completion early in 2010. With Joshua Fredric Smith as Sean and Scott Maguire as Dana, the film has two quality lead actors out front, supported by experienced actor/producer Tom Proctor. Flynn and Stone, like many of their photojournalist friends at the time, took one risk too many and disappeared in 1970, captured by Khmer Rouge forces. It's a story that has captured the imagination of many, particularly as Flynn was the son of his illustrious father Errol Flynn, and was an actor himself before turning his back on Hollywood to cover the war in Cambodia. Here's a couple of photos from the set of The Road to Freedom, which used locations both inside and outside the town of Kampot. Follow the film's progress here.

Director Brendan Moriarty with real Cambodian army extras at a roadblock

Freedom in Kampot

I recently mentioned that the film The Road to Freedom is being shot in Cambodia at the moment and the film's publicity team have generously invited me to attend their shooting schedule in Kampot next week. I'm snowed under at work so won't be able to make it, but I appreciate the gesture. The film, made under the direction of Brendan Moriarty (pictured), is based on real events that took place in the early 1970s as the Khmer Rouge began their domination over the Cambodian countryside. Whilst the towns and cities remained under Lon Nol control until 1975, much of the rural landscape was under KR rule long before then. In the movie, the fictional characters of Sean and Dana are drawn from the stories of many photojournalists who went missing in the early 70s, while the fictional character of Francais is a composite of French photojournalists of the time period. Brendan Moriarty has already spent eleven years living in Cambodia, including living in Kampot and has previously worked on films like City of Ghosts, Middle Men, Man Eater, Lioness and more. He's obtained first-hand accounts from many survivors of Khmer Rouge prison camps, and has built a set to re-enact one of those experiences. More info on the film as I get it though you can keep up to date yourself at their website, blog and on Facebook.

Road to Freedom

'Camera, lights, quiet on the set please. Action.' You may be hearing this somewhere near you just about now as the film, The Road to Freedom, is currently being shot in Cambodia. Where exactly, I don't know. What's it about? Well its the fictionalized story of Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, two photojournalists who were covering the American conflict in SEAsia and who disappeared one day in 1970, captured by the Khmer Rouge. Filming is due to finish at the end of next month with an anticipated release date of January next year. Playing the lead roles are Joshua Fredric Smith (pictured right) as Flynn and Scott Maguire as Stone. The movie-makers in their PR blurb tell us a prison camp has been built and members of the Cambodian Army are playing themselves. Not sure that is something to shout about. Film director Brendan Moriarty is calling the shots so to speak, for a film that was originally known as 12:02. Not sure how this ties in with another proposed Flynn & Stone story being developed by veteran photographer and Flynn expert, Tim Page. We shall see. And there's another Flynn biopic in the works too based on the book, Two of the Missing. Follow The Road to Freedom's progress at their website.

A Tim Page portrait of Sean Fynn from the Meta House exhibition earlier this year