Havel to begin shooting film version of Leaving on Thursday

Former Czech president Václav Havel is to begin filming an adaptation of his play Leaving on Thursday, the newspaper Lidové noviny reported. Shooting will take place over two months in the east Bohemian town of Česká Skalice. Mr Havel is making his debut as a film director at the age of 73. Leaving, which was first performed on stage in 2008, concerns a chancellor who quits power and enters the political wilderness.