American actor and director Sean Penn plays the lead role in a film about the war in Ukraine - War Through the Eyes of Animals (War through the eyes of animals).
Penn was paid only one dollar.
Producer Oleg Kohan gave an interview to the Ukrainian newspaper "Suspiljne" about the film and why the Hollywood star decided to participate in the project.
What is the movie about?
The film is an omnibus, composed of seven short stories - each separate.
About a rabbit, a cow, a cat and other animals.
"We made the film to tell our story through compassion for animals and to get people on our side."
“We wanted to touch the viewers, to keep them interested in the war in Ukraine, to stop and understand something about us,” says Kohan.
He emphasized that the goal of the film is not to express regret, but to use art to show the world who Ukrainians are and what they are fighting for.
The authors say that the film is based on real events, with a touch of artistic interpretation and form.
A song by the group was used as one of the film's musical backgrounds. Imagine Dragons.
The directors are Miroslav Slaboshpicki, Yulia Shashkova, Maxim Tuzov, Alexey Mamedov, Ivan Sautkin, Svyatoslav Kostyuk and Andrei Lidagovsky.
The film has been showing in cinemas in Ukraine since November 6th, and had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Watch the video: How Babushka, an icon of Russian propaganda, was created
Why Sean Penn?
When we started promoting the first three short stories about animals and war, we realized that film festivals would be somewhat interested, but not so much distributors, cinemas and online platforms, explains the producer.
"War films are generally difficult to show, or rather, difficult to attract audiences to watch them," says Kohan.
That's why, he said, they decided to hire Sean Penn to increase viewership.
"Sean Penn is, in a way, in a natural role - playing an American producer, not a general," said Kohan.
Sean Penn was looking for a script, met with the director of his part of the film, Miroslav Slabošpicki, and told him he was asking for a fee of just a dollar.
"Working for one dollar on a Ukrainian film is also support for Ukraine."
"For me, this decision was confirmation that he is a very powerful ambassador for peace, and that our film and its theme are reaching an international audience," says the producer.
He emphasizes that "no animals were harmed during filming."
Animal owners and animal coordinators were always present during filming to ensure that nothing happened to them.
Sean Penn is one of the Hollywood celebrities who has supported Ukraine since the start of the war with Russia in February 2022.
He has visited Ukraine on several occasions, and presented his own Oscar statuette - the highest film award - to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, Sean Penn was in Kiev.
Then he was in Buča and Irpinja, places near Kiev, where, according to Ukrainians, Russians committed crimes against civilians.
Moscow has denied these claims from the beginning and accuses the Ukrainians and its European allies of 'fabricating' the entire story.
The same year the war began, Sean Penn organized a charity event in Los Angeles that raised more than a million dollars to help Ukraine.
Penn also directed the documentary "Superpower" about the war in Ukraine, which was released in the United States in 2023.
In the film, Sean Penn enters Zelensky's office during the early days of the war, filming conversations with the Ukrainian president and one of his closest aides, Andriy Yermak.
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