German actor Richard Sammel cast in English-language film about Artsakh

PanARMENIAN – German actor Richard Sammel will star in a new English-language film, “Gate to Heaven”, about Artsakh by Armenian filmmaker Jivan Avetisyan.

“Meet and greet the main actor of Gate to Heaven, Richard Sammel,” the film’s official Twitter account revealed.

“It’s a great honour for us to work with such a prolific and talented actor!”

The movie will center on the eternal conflict of the good and the bad, the reevaluation of the truth and the conscience and the people’s destinies.

In the movie, Finnish journalist Robert Stenval, 50, returns to Artsakh in 2016 to cover the war which has been reignited after a 22-year ceasefire. During his journalistic investigation, Robert meets Sofia Martirosyan, 35, a young opera singer, who happens to be the daughter of missing photojournalist Edgar Martirosyan, whom Robert abandoned in captivity during the fall of the village of Talish in 1992. Robert and Sophia’s frequent rendezvous ignite a passionate romance.

After more than two dozen documentaries and short films, Avetisyan’s two feature films “Tevanik” and “The Last Inhabitant” received worldwide recognition by participating in international film festivals and film markets in Cannes, Los Angeles, Venice, Shanghai and Toronto. “Tevanik” has received over ten awards and most recently “The Last Inhabitant” won Best Feature Film at the Scandinavian International Film Festival 2018.

In 1993, Richard Sammel moved to Paris and landed the lead role in the musical film version of the Brecht-Eisler opera The Lindberghs Flight. An indelible performance in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds in 2009 brought Sammel international recognition. In 2012, he won “Best Actor” at the Syracuse International Film Festival for his performance in Ruggero Dipaola’s Apartment in Athens.

His other film credits include Les Miserable du XX Siècle for director Claude Lelouche; Life is Beautiful for director Roberto Begnini; the original Taxi written by Luc Besson; Casino Royale for director Martin Campbell; Beauty and the Beast opposite Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux for director Christophe Gans; and most recently McG’s Three Days to Kill opposite Kevin Costner.