A Foreign Affair-the Movie
We always joked, "someone should make a movie about this!" - Well, someone did! That someone is Black & White Films, and the movie, A Foreign Affair, stars David Arquette,Tim Blake Nelson, and Emily Mortimer.
In short, the movie is about two brothers from the heartland of America who decide to search for a foreign wife. In their search they actually employ the services of an International Introduction agency, A Foreign Affair.
Producer Geert Heetebrij contacted us with a very interesting proposal. They wanted to produce a docu-drama about the International Introduction industry focusing on the Romance Tours. They had done their homework, spending hours on the Internet and reading about various agencies in the industry. As a result of their research they concluded that AFA was the company they wanted to be associated with for their project.
We soon had a meeting to discuss the details of making the film, and what would be expected of us. The first thing they wanted to do was to attend a real Romance Tour so they would have a better understanding of what actually takes place during the tour. Once they felt comfortable with the tour they would return, on a subsequent tour, with their crew and the actors to shoot the film. Actually, many of the lines and scenes you will see in the movie really happened while they were on the first tour.
Although we thought the idea of a docu-drama based on our company would be extremely interesting, as well as serve to remove existing stigmas concerning the industry as a whole, it did present us with some logistical problems. Our greatest concern was the privacy and satisfaction of our Tour clients. We discussed this with Geert and Helmut Schleppi, the films director, and agreed that they would not film anyone who objected in any way. We also told them that we could not agree to the filming unless all the tour participants agreed to allow it, regardless of their participation in the film. We were also assured that the filming would be unobtrusive, so as not to detract from any of the clients tour experience. We contacted each tour participant and explained the proposal and all agreed to allow it, although not all wished to be included.
The actual making of the film was fun, exciting, and an educational experience for all of us. The whole production staff, from the director to the stage-hands, were very much in the background. Although a good portion of the filming took place outside of our regularly scheduled events, when the filming did include our clients it was done very discreetly so as to not disturb their overall experience.
If you have ever been on one of our Romance tours, especially to St. Petersburg, watching this movie will give you the overwhelming feeling of deja vu. From the beginning, where the brothers are watching the AFA video, to the AFA office in St. Petersburg, to the Social facilities, it is all exactly like any of our St. Petersburg tours. That is really one of the neat things about this movie - you can actually watch it and then go and experience exactly what the actors did, assuming you are a single male or a beautiful foreign woman.
The release date for A Foreign Affair has yet to be set, however, we will post the date as soon as we learn of it!
