Foreign film makers are increasingly taken by our country's beautiful scenery and our actors. Part of Labyrinth was filmed in the Grabouw valley and in the Cape Town film studios where a French village film set was built.
This gave York High schoolboy Sasha Ourtaev (16) and Peter Van Pletzen (35), the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to star as professional stuntmen in an exciting battle scene.
This involved crusader soldiers charging down the hill on horseback, dressed in mediaeval battle gear and pulling off intricate stunts.
They were acting side by side with Sasha's dad Elbrus who has acted as stuntman in a dozen films since 1995. It was a chance to prove their showmanship as consummate horse riders. He was justifiably proud of his sixteen-year-old son, who still grins with delight when he recalls how he did some sword fighting scenes as well. Peter was a student of Elbrus who ran a Cossack stunt academy for many years in Hoekwil.
"I did 12 falls in all, Peter one and Sasha five as the crew was short on stunt horse riders and the director saw that we were able to do the Cossack horse drag so well - so we were used over and over again," said Elbrus who has done stunts for a whole series of films and is thus experienced in the acting field. (The Cossack stunt involves the rider hanging over backwards with his foot caught in the stirrups). Elbrus starred in the blockbuster 1000BC, Dusk till Dawn, in Flight of the Phoenix and GallowWalker along with Wesley Snipes.
Labyrinth was shot partly in Grabouw's Oak Valley area, which was ideal with its grassy field scenes with mountains in the background. A tent camp was erected and a French Village film set in Cape Town. When the three local stuntmen were asked how they managed to do the Cossack drag so well, Elbrus explained they have special saddles equipped with handles. He has survived quite a few scenes where he was dragged along on the ground, but that comes with years of training.
He started out his career in Russia as a Cossack horse rider, after which he joined the Moscow Circus. He was 17 when he started travelling all round the world, leading a life of adventure. His daughter Megan and Sasha, as well as Arian (11) did their training at their father's Cossack Horse riding Academy in Hoekwil. This makes Arian the youngest trained Cossack rider in the country.
Sasha Ourtaev, York High schoolboy enjoyed the sword fighting scene and practised his hand at it with a fellow actor, while the star-studded cast of Labyrinth takes a break.
The saying "Don't be fooled by appearances" applies to Sasha Ourtaev (left) who may look like any other ordinary schoolboy but happens to be an excellent Cossack horserider, who pulled off one of the most difficult stunts for the British TV series Labyrinth, which was party shot in the Grabouw area. Dad Elbrus (right), a seasoned stunt man, plunges to the ground.
