Director WOODY ALLEN has defended his decision to shoot his latest movie VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA in Spain, insisting he would have filmed in any European city, had he been offered the opportunity.
The 72-year-old filmmaker has come under attack from local officials in Barcelona, who claimed he had received 1 million euros ($1.6 million/GBP800,000) from the city's administration towards the funding of the project - which stars Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson.
But, speaking at the movie's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France on Saturday (17May08), he denied the allegations, admitting he would have filmed in any European city, had he been approached to do so.
He says, "People from (distribution company Mediapro in) Barcelona called and said if I was interested in making a film there, they would finance it, so I said, 'Sure'. If someone had called me from Rome or Venice or Stockholm or God knows where, I probably would have agreed to it just as readily.
"But this was a golden opportunity for me, because I happen to have a particular fondness for a number of cities in Spain, and Barcelona certainly is one of my favorites."
However, Allen admits there is one destination in Europe he would never return to, after a bad experience in St. Petersburg, Russia, when the city was formerly known as Leningrad.
He recalls, "I was planning on being there for five days, and I was there for about two hours, and I went to the travel agent in town and I said, 'Get me the first reservation out of here. I don't care where it goes.'
"I had a terrible, terrible time there, and I haven't been back since then. And I'm told that it's greatly changed since then, but it would take a lot, because I'm a fearful traveler, and it would take a lot to get me back to Russia."
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