By Stone Martindale Sep 29, 2007, 18:06 GMT
Francis Ford Coppola says in an interview broadcast Friday that he lost 15 years of computer data, including writings and family photographs, when robbers raided his Argentine studio.
Francis Ford Coppola - Los Angeles, CA © Scott Alan / Photorazzi
Coppola was interviewed by Argentine broadcaster Todo Noticias, where he appealed to the thieves to return the computer backup device, which was taken along with computers in the robbery on Wednesday night.
"They stole our computers; they got all our data, many years of work," said Coppola, who apparently was not in the studio at the time of the robbery.
The director of "The Godfather" said the backup that rested on the floor in his offices at the Zoetrope Argentina studio was just "a little thing ... but the information is (worth) much time."
"If I could get the backup back, it would save me years — all the photographs of my family, all my writing."
Coppola has no hard feelings against Argentina. "Argentine people are very nice."
Four robbers, at least one brandishing a knife, broke through a front door, tied up four employees and took four computers, cell phones and other valuables, apparently picking the studio at random, the newspaper Clarin reported, citing unnamed police sources.
The Noticias Argentinas agency said one of the stolen computers contained the 68-year-old director's script for "Tetro," a story about Italian immigrant artists set to begin shooting next year and starring Matt Dillon.
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