Penelope Cruz to begin filming in Sarajevo

Penelope is in Sarajevo to begin filming `Venuto al Mondo`.

Sarajevo: Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, her husband, Javier Bardem, and their son, Leo, are in Sarajevo, where she will begin filming `Venuto al Mondo`, Bosnian media reported.

The celebrity couple, who stayed in a large apartment in the upscale Bosmal City Center during their first few days in Sarajevo, are now staying in a hotel in the Balkan city`s old downtown. Cruz and Bardem are occupying the hotel`s presidential suite, while the staffers who care for their son are living in two other rooms, media reports said. The movie star asked hotel management for stepped up security to protect the family`s privacy from paparazzi. Cruz had a final production meeting Sunday with director Sergio Castellito to iron out some details of the filming, which will last nine days. The stars and crew will continue filming in Rome, but plans call for a return to Sarajevo in late October or early November. Cruz plays Gemma, a single mother who accompanies her teenage son to Sarajevo, the birthplace of his father, who died in the war in Bosnia. `Venuto al Mondo` is an adaptation of the novel by bestselling Italian author Margaret Mazzantini, Castellitto`s wife. Copies of the novel have flown off bookstore shelves since Cruz`s arrival in Sarajevo. IANS