Sanfic: Ukraine Drama ‘Klondike’ Snags Top Honors

Ed Meza @edmezavar Hard-hitting documentaries centering on some of the world’s most critical geopolitical flashpoints have proved hot sellers for Java Films. The Paris and London-based distributor closed a number of deals this week at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Biarritz for provocative works that examine life in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city of Gaza, the causes of the Ukraine war, and rising tensions between the U.S. and China over the vital supply of semiconductors. Chiara Avesani and Matteo Delbò’s “Erasmus in Gaza” follows Riccardo, an Italian final-year medical student who wants to be a trauma surgeon and travels to war-torn Gaza on an Erasmus exchange program in order to receive battlefield training and write his thesis on explosive bullet wounds. The young medic is not prepared for the brutality of war, however.

Pusha T has responded after receiving a somewhat unlikely shoutout from the Ukraine Ministry of Defence, who recently quoted the rapper on social media.Yesterday (September 7), Defense of Ukraine shared an update on combat losses – including “eliminated personnel”, vehicles and artillery – reportedly suffered by Russia since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began in February.Defense of Ukraine captioned the post, “I put numbers on the board“, a lyric from Push’s 2013 track ‘Numbers on the Boards’ from his debut solo album ‘My Name Is Name’. Push himself retweeted the post, adding, “Great taste in music for the win.” See the interaction below:Great taste in music for the win… https://t.co/GKG2V6Jc4S— King Push (@PUSHA_T) September 7, 2022Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense regularly includes song lyrics, lines from films and other references when sharing updates on enemy combat losses on social media.

Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Slash, Kasabian and Madness are auctioning off Gibson guitars to help victims of the war in Ukraine.The artists have been playing Gibson guitars featuring the colours of the Ukraine flag over the summer.Now, Gibson has crafted a limited edition run of four Guitars For Peace Les Paul Custom electric guitars, with autograph books by the artists that also include Chic, Paloma Faith, The Charlatans, The Vaccines, Toyah, My Chemical Romance and actor Jason Momoa.Starting on October 11, bidding will open via Julien’s Auctions. A live auction will take place online from November 11-13 here and in person at the Hard Rock New York.“I’m happy to auction this beautiful guitar of mine to benefit the fine people of Ukraine,” said McCartney.

The Ukrainian cast and crew of Luxembourg, Luxembourg — premiering in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival — today used their Lido photo call as a powerful call for support of Ukraine’s families.

David Muir is one of the most dependable anchors in primetime news, helming the most viewed show during his time slot with ABC News' World News Tonight.MORE: David Muir gets everybody talking with photo of his lookalike nephewViewers often rely on him to provide updates on major breaking news and undertake some of the most daring stories.VIDEO: David Muir's glimpse into his lavish homeSuch was the case with his latest endeavor, as he made his way to Ukraine once again to interview president Volodymyr Zelenskyy while the country still grapples with war.He shared outtakes from his undertaking that captured the seriousness of the assignment and how pertinent the conversation around the conflict still is.MORE: Kelly Ripa supported by good friend David Muir as she counts down days until book release"In Kyiv with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy - we ask about Ukraine's new counteroffensive, the growing nuclear concerns at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, about Putin, about alleged war crimes, and whether Zelenskyy sees an end to this war," David wrote.The anchor was supported by his colleagues on ABC and Good Morning America, including Amy Robach, Ginger Zee, and Gio Benitez, among others.A post shared by David Muir (@davidmuirabc)David returned to Ukraine to interview president Volodymyr ZelenskyyHis friend Deborah Roberts even commented on his post: "Intriguing.

Thania Garcia Universal Music Group has been awarded the Ukraine Peace Prize, a recognition bestowed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for the music company’s wartime support and humanitarian relief efforts in the region. At a ceremony at UMG’s Belgium headquarters in Brussels, Olha Stefanishyna (pictured at left), Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, presented the award to Frank Briegmann, UMG’s chairman and CEO of Central Europe (pictured at right). “[UMG] was one of the first to support Ukraine and join the sanctions against Russia,” said Stefanishyna. “UMG is the first music company in the world to receive such an award. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Universal Music has proven that they are true friends of Ukraine and entertainment/culture sphere shouldn’t stand aside the war.”

[VENICE] It’s Saturday afternoon at the Tennis Club on the Lido, and American director Abel Ferrara chats on camera to an Italian television host before some of his customary swearing sets in, courtesy of a few brave souls wanting a photo with him next to the courts. He’s hungry.

Christopher Vourlias The pursuit of justice in the wake of unspeakable war crimes is at the heart of Ukrainian documentary filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa’s timely new feature, “The Kiev Trial.” Produced by Atoms & Void for the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, the film had its world premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival. The trailer can be viewed below. Held in January 1946 in the former Soviet Union, the film’s titular trial was among the first court cases to hold Nazis and their collaborators accountable for atrocities committed during World War II — acts that would come to be known as “crimes against humanity” during the historic tribunals held in Nuremberg, Germany.

Evgeny Afineevsky released his Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom in 2015, documenting the Euromaidan protests the previous year in the city of Kyiv that led to the collapse of the Russia-aligned Azarov government and the removal and exile of Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych as Ukraine’s president. Afineevsky returns to Venice this year with Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, a follow-up that details the real stories of the people of Ukraine as they continue their fight against Russia’s invasion of their country.

Christopher Vourlias The journey to the Lido has been longer than most for Ukrainian director Antonio Lukich, whose sophomore feature, “Luxembourg, Luxembourg,” has its world premiere Sep. 7 in the Horizons strand at the Venice Film Festival. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Lukich’s life has been upended. Forced to flee Kyiv at the start of the war, the director spoke to Variety from Sweden, where he’s among four Ukrainian filmmakers who were granted a residency with the support of the Göteborg Film Fund. It is, he acknowledges, a world removed from the one he left behind. “It’s a great opportunity to develop Ukrainian stories when you cannot develop them right now in Ukraine,” he said.

Famed actors Ben Stiller and Sean Penn have been permanently banned from entering Russia, according to an announcement from the country's foreign ministry Monday. Stiller and Penn were named on a list of 25 “high-ranking officials, representatives of the business and expert communities, as well as cultural figures” that can no longer legally enter the country. Both Stiller and Penn have been active in their support for Ukraine amid Russia's invasion of the Eastern European country. The actors have visited the country, met with leaders and been vocal in their support for Ukraine and opposition of Russia's attacks. A post shared by Sean Penn (@seanpenn)This year, Penn traveled to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky while filming a  documentary.

blacklist of 25 people, Senators Rick Scott, Mark Kelley, Pat Toomey, Kevin Kramer and Krysten Sinema were also barred from the countryThis isn’t the only thing the actors have in common, however, as both Penn and Stiller made trips to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year.Penn traveled to Ukraine to capture the crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for a Vice documentary and had a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Chris Cuomo also joined the actor in Ukraine in June as Penn worked on a “film showing the reality and helping the hurting with relief org CORE,” according to Cuomo’s Instagram.

Christopher Vourlias On the eve of the 79th Venice Film Festival, where his powerful Ukraine war documentary “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” will premiere out of competition on Sept. 7, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky was in a frantic race against time. Footage was still being shot in Ukraine into the second week of August, with Afineevsky only completing the film on Aug. 31 — the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the A-list celebrities and foreign press at the festival’s opening ceremony, urging the world not to forget the war in Ukraine with the impassioned plea: “Don’t turn your back to us.”

a video posted to Twitter, which you can watch above. In the clip, Chastain is seen riding in the back of a car looking into a cell phone as she narrates a voiceover that lists statistics related to the Ukraine war, started after Russia invaded the country in February.“So the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine now stands at 5.1 million who’ve left for the European Union countries and another 7.7 million who are internally displaced,” Chastain says in the video, before reeling off more figures from the cost of the war as the video transitions to a montage of her hospital visits, including one in which she meets a young girl who presents her with a water-color painting.“Oh, wow,” Chastain says.

Several Ukrainian mothers break down as they open up about the trauma their family has lived through during Russia’s invasion in an exclusive clip for NBC News’ upcoming special “Ukraine: A Mother’s War.”The special follows the lives of five Ukrainian mothers, all survivors fighting in different ways. In the clip, which you can watch above, one of the women clutches the hands of foreign correspondent Molly Hunter as she details the horrors she’s been through.“It was all Russians raping, abusing, and torturing our people,” the woman cries.