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Abel Ferarra: Welcome to New York will surprise


Director Abel Ferrara thinks movie fans will be surprised by new film ‘Welcome to New York’.

The flick has been inspired by the downfall of Dominique Strauss-Khan – the French economist and politician, who was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel employee in 2011 – but Ferrara warned moviegoers not to expect a documentary-like production.

He explained to ShortList magazine: "In the beginning when we were screening it, I started sensing people were coming thinking it was going to be a documentary on Strauss-Khan. And the film is not a documentary – this is a film made by me and my guys, with Gerard [Depardieu] and Jacqueline [Bisset] in it. And that’s a separate entity."

The filmmaker warned audiences not to bother seeing the movie if they want a documentary-style piece.

He added: "So it needed Gerard saying, very straight up, ‘I’m not playing the guy, because I don’t respect the guy.’ Ya dig?

"What you’re seeing is a performance. You come here to watch the Dominique Strauss-Khan story, you’re coming to the wrong f*****g theatre. You’d better leave now."

The film is strongly disliked by Anne Sinclair, who was Strauss-Khan’s wife at the time of the scandal.