Tuesday night's crowd gathered for a scene in a new Hollywood film about the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, with the working title Georgia, in which movie star Andy Garcia plays Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The filmmakers have said they are not making propaganda, but the movie seems certain to figure in the continuing struggle between Russia and Georgia over how their short war is remembered.

Garcia, mimicking the gestures of the sometimes emotional Georgian president, spoke to the crowd during a re-creation of a real demonstration that took place Aug. 12, 2008, toward the end of active fighting.

Mock demonstrators carried banners reading "Russian Troops Get Out of Georgia," while actors playing the presidents of Poland and the Baltic states appeared on a stage in support of Garcia as Saakashvili.

The Russian media have questioned whether director Renny Harlin's film will take the Georgian side in portraying the conflict.

A recent Russian film used the fictional story of a nerdy American scientist and a blond Russian photojournalist to offer the Kremlin's version of the war.

Harlin, best known for Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, has said the tale of a journalist and cameraman caught up in the fighting was an impartial indictment of war.

Harlin said on Tuesday that the movie would have a universal appeal.

"I am from a small country myself - I am from Finland originally - so I know what kind of things small countries can sometimes go through," he said. "These kind of wars are fought around the world from Africa to Asia to South America. Georgia is just one example. I think it is a great opportunity to tell the universal story that touches a lot of people around the world."

Harlin said that Garcia, who starred in The Godfather: Part III and The Untouchables, was his first choice for the role of the Georgian president.

"It was my dream from the beginning," Harlin said. "When I started on this film a few months ago, I said Andy Garcia has to play the president, and when I gave him a script and he heard about it, he said absolutely he thought it was great role for him."

Producer George Lasku described Garcia as enthusiastic about the film.

"He is of Cuban origin, and his country and his people went pretty much through the same pain for the last 50 or so years," Lasku said.

Several people in the crowd outside parliament said they hoped the film would rally support behind Georgia.

A September report by a panel sponsored by the European Union concluded that Georgia had started the war with an indiscriminate rocket and artillery barrage on the capital of the separatist-controlled region of South Ossetia. The report also found Russia had taunted and provoked Georgia for years before the assault, then responded with disproportionate force, sending its troops deep into undisputed Georgian territory.

"It's good that the Americans are shooting a film about our war," said Dzhemal Maziashvili, a 72-year-old stage actor. "If they tell the truth, the whole world will learn it. Let everybody know that Russia is an aggressor and that it can be cruel. I very much hope that the film will be truthful."

Schoolteacher Zemfira Akim, 40, said: "Many people abroad don't know what really happened in Georgia. Maybe this film will help them understand."

Others came out to catch a glimpse of the actors and watch the making of what may be the biggest-budget film ever shot in Georgia.

"I've never seen how a movie is made, and suddenly it's Hollywood here," said Nuzgar Areshadze, a 23-year-old student. "This is really an event in our lives. And such stars! I saw Andy Garcia in person."