The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 10

Friday, December 12, 1997 A10 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Leaders of Muslim nations sharply reject terrorism Old City finally ready for close-ups rV 7 I i diplomatic gathering in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution drew 28 heads of state, prime ministers and crown princes, giving Iran an opportunity to forge ties with its wary regional neighbors. The. meeting brought together some of the world's richest and poorest nations from Gulf Arab states to those of sub-Saharan Africa. Only Islam seemed to hold them together. "There's a need to stress religion as a unifying force," said Shirley Gbujama, a delegate from Sierra Leone.

"Some states are so far away from each other and it's not all that often that there's time to interact." Much of the action at the conference center, at the foot of the snow-dusted Alborz Mountains, occurred on the sidelines Iranian leaders met Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Kuwait's emir and other Arab leaders, many of whom were making their first trip to Iran. Iraqi officials found little joy in efforts to improve ties with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, whose leaders refused to meet them. Iran, which fought a devastating 1980-88 war with Iraq, was more accommodating. "Iran and Iraq should look to the future and forget the past," Iraq's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, said after meeting Khatami. By Anwar Faruqi ASSOCIATED PRESS TEHRAN Closing a three-day summit, leaders of the world's Muslim nations strongly condemned religious-inspired terrorism yesterday, declaring that "the killing of innocent people is forbidden in Islam." But the joint declaration of the 55-member Organization of the Islamic Conference made no mention of the Middle East peace process or sanctions against Iraq, underscoring differences among nations bound by faith but divided by politics.

The statement followed divisive debate by delegates who differed widely on issues that ranged from the faltering peace process to relations with the United States and policies toward Iraq. In a sign of the disagreements, the peace process was not specifically mentioned. But the declaration sharply criticized Israel for what it described as "state terrorism." It called for the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and demanded that Israel stop building settlements on "occupied" Arab land. "Dialogue is a key to peace, coexistence and building mutual confidence," Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said in a closing speech. The summit the largest 1 Ax The Philadelphia Inquirer BONNIE WELLER "He's very warm," Karen Riggs said of actor Danny Glover.

She presented him a quilt in her boutique, the Home Zone. I MOVIE from A1 i Wheeler didn't quite understand all the grousing about Utterly Beloved Productions' taking over the street so close to the holidays. Business was slower, he admitted, "but I think this is one of the best things to happen in Old Gty. It really looks fantastic. People are going to come by and say, 'Look.

This is where they shot This is part of history." That history began with a visit by Beloved's designers in early April, after they failed to find the right buildings and countryside around Richmond, Baltimore, Nashville, Annapolis and Cincinnati, among other places. Their needs were many: an unbroken string of buildings with Victorian-era elements, a remote area with no modern trappings, a warehouse they could fashion into a slaughterhouse, and a large sound stage. Sharon Pinkenson, head of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, told the moviemakers they were in luck. Their first stop in the city was Third and Arch. Zea remembers: "We got out of the car and I said, 'My God, this is No fire escapes.

No overhead wires. Gorgeous architectural elements that, with some work, could easily match the mass of archival materials that researcher Miriam Schapiro had gathered on 19th-century Cincinnati, where Toni Morrison set Beloved, her 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a woman haunted by her slave heritage. Next they drove to an old textile mill in Manayunk. "That's not bad as the slaughterhouse," Zea remembers saying. Within a half-hour, they had checked off two of the toughest items on the production company's list.

The city pledged to convert the idle Civic Center into a movie soundstage. That left just one more tall order: great views and big landscapes. They wound up at Fairhill State Park in northern Maryland, a several-thousand-acre site with agreeable forest rangers and with aid from Pinkenson and the Federal Aviation Administration no planes flying overhead. Philadelphia had other advantages. Much of Beloved's crew lives in New York, and a Philadelphia shoot would allow them to travel home on weekends.

The city became home base for all filming except what was shot at the Landis Valley Museum, a 100-acre village in Lancaster County. Until yesterday, the work was low-visibility. But it's hard to hide in Old City. "Yo, Oprah!" a man called from the steps of Third Street Video. "Autographs, announced a man unloading boxes by a police barricade.

"I'm signing for Miss Winfrey." The street was unrecognizable. Parking meters and modern light fixtures had disappeared. Small panes replaced plate glass. Bright colors deferred to muted hues. Sheets of foam, shaped into cobblestones, covered the asphalt, and peat and straw filled the crevices.

Awnings went up, as did period signs and quaint icons so, for instance, John A. Biedinger's China Glass Shop could be found underneath a giant pitcher. Where time had eroded a building's facade, set designers fashioned ersatz stonework out of Styrofoam. They turned Sickler's clothing store into Sawyer's Restaurant, where Sethe, the Oprah character, cooks. Bursting Baskets became a 19th-century pawn shop to the ultimate satisfaction of Selma Arron-son, who had her doubts when she heard that her niece's gift store was going Hollywood.

"It actually looks authentic," said Arronson, 74, whose father owned a factory on the street. "They have plenty of dough. With plenty of dough, darling, you can do anything." Greene Street Consignment Shop became Turek O'Hara a tobacco shop. The Craft House apartments became a livery stable. The makeover of two dozen stores began Nov.

5. Yesterday that block Israel will not commit to deadline through Manayunk seem like a Cakewalk. "I think there's a greed factor," Bozman said. "People see a movie coming, and they think they can soak it. There have been people who have been very difficult, but they are the exception to the rule.

We've had a wonderful experience, and we'd come back." Art director Tim Galvin, a Phila-delphian, said the deal with the neighbors is that everything put up will come down unless the locals like the changes, and the Seamen's Church Institute apparently does. It will be staying with brown window trim instead of turquoise. "Most of this will just come right off, be thrown in a truck and go away," said Galvin. One person hopes Philadelphia can learn from Hollywood: former city planner Edmund Bacon, whose son Kevin has made a few films of his own. Bacon, who's made several visits to the site, marvels at the transformation and would like to see those pawnbroker balls and china pitchers proliferate.

He wants property owners to discover their hidden architectural wealth. "What the movie company is teaching us is that if we get off our fannies, and make it clear how interesting these buildings are, we would have a tremendous tourist attraction," he said. became the locale for three scenes that bustled with 215 costumed extras and another ISO crew members. The hurrah is to continue today. Beloved will cost somewhere between $30 million and $50 million to make, about half of it spent in Pennsylvania, said producer Ron Boz-man, who worked with Demme on Philadelphia and Silence of the Lambs.

The film is due out in late 1998. Since early April, the Beloved crew has swelled to as many as 300 people two-thirds of them local and employed nearly 2,800 extras, Bozman said. Demme shot for more than 90 days. Work should end late next week. More than 100 members of the cast and crew have lived in the city during the filming, said Pinkenson.

Zea said a favorite Demme hangout has been the Striped Bass restaurant on Walnut Street. "The city itself and its government have been terrific," Bozman said, although he acknowledged that negotiations with the residents and businesses around Third Street became "very difficult." Utterly Beloved Productions Inc. had scheduled to shoot in the two blocks north of Market Street during the summer and early fall, but there were delays and the company was forced to make over the street during the merchants' busiest period. It made running 200 pigs dangerous gamble" should Netanyahu meet Albright "empty-handed." Asked if cabinet debate could be completed in time for the meeting, Naveh told army radio: "We are certainly, not convinced of it because we are speaking of a very serious subject." He said the cabinet would in any event have to decide on the final deal before taking up the question of a long-overdue interim handover of more West Bank land to Palestinians. Netanyahu's office would neither confirm nor deny a report by the Jerusalem Post that he was set to meet Arafat in London next Thursday after their separate meetings with Albright.

Albright is demanding from Israel a "credible" interim troop pullback in the West Bank and a "time-out" on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. By Howard Goller REUTERS JERUSALEM Israel said yesterday that it could not promise to meet U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's deadline next week for key decisions on peace, setting the stage for a possible new confrontation with Washington. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Albright on Wednesday but may need more time for cabinet discussion on Israel's view of a final peace deal with Palestinians and the scope of an interim handover of occupied territory, aide Danny Na-veh said.

Albright wants quick answers to revive the stalled peace process and said after meeting Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat last week that both had some decisions to make before she met them again next week. David Levy, Netanyahu's foreign minister and sometimes sparring partner, said it would be "a very Tho Philactelphla INQUIRER DELIVERY call 1-8C0-440-1310 I ilene's I 3 u. I Men's Ladies' Fashion Watches From The Hottest Makers dept. store prices $524195 SAVE42-85 Outstanding mix of sport casual watches in the most popular styles colors. Men's Ladies' Casual Dress Watches From A Favorite Maker j()S dept.

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