Kaunas has been chosen as the shooting location for BBC‘s Rise of the Nazis second season. With TV host Andrius Rožickas playing the main role of Adolf Hitler, the series will take the viewer through such famous spots as Soboras, Žaliakalnis funicular, and Kaukas stairs.
The year is 1940. Adolf Hitler arrives at the Les Invalides in Paris to visit the grave of Napoleon, but instead of Paris, the action takes place in Kaunas.
Lithuania’s second-largest city has become the filming location for the season two of BBC‘s Rise of the Nazis. Episodes filmed in Lithuania will cover the historical period from 1940 to 1943.
“The first season was about Hitler and the Nazi seize of power in Germany. Now we jump forward six years, to the Second World War, ” says director Julian Jones. “In the second season we will reveal Hitler’s decision to begin Operation Barbarossa and invade the Soviet Union, and analyse how this became the breaking point for the Second World War.”
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TV host Andrius Rožickas, cast to play the role of Adolf Hitler, says that he already feels familiar with his role, and jokes that the only inconvenience so far has been having to hide Hitler’s moustache under a mask due to pandemic safety requirements.
Rožickas says that taking on the role at first was rather “scary” due to Hitler being such a clear-cut and well-known figure. Some tens of Lithuanian actors have been cast for the series.
“Director could not find an actor in Lithuania to play Stalin, so for now we have a Ukrainian actor that is closer to Stalin in appearance,” says producer Lineta Mišeikytė. “However, our Hitler is still like an example for all. The director once said, ‘I want a Stalin as good as your Hitler’. ”
BBC intends to shoot most of the second season in Kaunas. Filming is expected to take five days.
Aurelijus Silkinis, director of Kaunas Film Office, reveals that the series were shot in several famous spots of Kaunas, including the former Sitkūnai Radio Station, Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas Museum, Kaunas Garrison Officers Club (Karininkų Ramovė), St Michael the Archangel’s Church (Soboras), Žaliakalnis funicular, and Kaukas stairs.
The second season of BBC’s Rise of the Nazis is expected to premiere in late 2021, or early 2022.
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