Sean Penn Says Gift Of Oscar To Ukraine’s President Zelensky Was “Inspired By Shame Towards Motion Picture Academy”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be missing out on the Academy Awards for the second year in a row.

Tatiana Siegel For the past year, Volodymyr Zelensky has been greeted with open arms by awards shows, film festivals and even the New York Stock Exchange. But when it comes to landing airtime on the most coveted telecast of all — the Oscars — the Ukrainian leader is being met with a cold shoulder. For the second year in a row, the Academy has snubbed Zelensky, who was hoping to follow up his Berlin Film Festival (remote) appearance last month with a virtual spot on Sunday’s Oscar telecast on ABC. Sources say WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment. 

Metro Weekly. The audience likely identifies as part of the acronym. Or Same-Gender-Loving (SGL).

A Ukrainian expatriate group disseminated to press an open letter addressed to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, questioning whether Top Gun: Maverick should be allowed to remain in this year’s Oscar race following reports the film was partly funded by a Russian oligarch who put money in the film as a silent investor in LA-based New Republic Pictures.

to film a documentary about the Russian invasion of the country, which began a year ago yesterday (February 24, 2022). In a statement released by the Office of the President of the Ukraine at the time, it read: “The director specifically came to Kyiv to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country.”In a new interview, Penn recalled how he and Nicholson met the dictator at the 2001 Moscow Film Festival, where Penn’s film The Pledge was premiering.Revealing that the pair travelled with Putin to Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov’s estate, Penn told The Independent: “We were put in a convoy.

Sean Penn is doubling down on his call for the United States to supply Ukraine with modern fighter jets amid the country's war against Russia. The 62-year-old actor, who first pressed the White House on Ukraine's need for jets last March, said President Joe Biden's surprise trip to Kyiv this week to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion was "extremely encouraging." However, he stressed that the U.S. continue sending military aid, including modern aircraft, to the war-torn nation.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine and, like many people around the world, he felt helpless at the images of people fleeing their homes.“The world felt like it was in a new place that it hadn’t been in decades,” the three-time Grammy winner recalls.On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the war’s start, Paisley is releasing a new song called “Same Here,” featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking proudly about his country and people.The song is Paisley’s first from his new record, “Son of the Mountains,” to be released later this year on Universal Music Group Nashville.The West Virginia native wrote the song with Lee Thomas Miller (co-writer on Paisley hits “The World” and “Perfect Storm”) and Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith. It’s a three-part narrative that reflects on universal similarities, despite distance and language.While it doesn’t mention Ukraine specifically, the song ends with Paisley and Zelenskyy in conversation, recorded during a video call.

Good afternoon Insider team, Max Goldbart here. It has been a wild ride of a week with Berlin drawing to a close. Read below for a good ol’ recap.

EXCLUSIVE: On February 24, 2022 Sean Penn and his documentary filmmaking team got up before dawn in Kyiv in anticipation of a planned interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Suddenly, explosions shattered the quiet and missile fire turned the darkened sky to malevolent orange. Russia’s full-scale attack on its neighbor had begun — what President Vladimir Putin later that day euphemistically dubbed a “special military operation.”

When Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is understood that he believed a takeover would only take a few days.

Today marks one full year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and fears remain that it could last for another.

On this day last year, Vladimir Putin ordered his troops across the Ukraine border, marking the start of a deadly conflict which has taken the lives of thousands.

A year ago today, the world woke up to war.

Zack Sharf Back in 2001, Sean Penn found himself next to Jack Nicholson in a speeding car on the way to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. The two actors were in Russia for the world premiere of “The Pledge” at the Moscow Film Festival. The Penn-directed psychological drama starred Nicholson as a retiring police detective who vows to catch the killer of a young child. Penn recently spoke to The Independent about his anxiety-inducing journey to meet Putin. “We were put in a convoy,” Penn said. “We knew that Putin was going to be the honored guest. In the nature of that time and space, we accepted the invitation. We got in this convoy, and we were going as fast as they wanted to drive, with no care for whether it might have presented danger in the villages we drove through.”

Broadcast and cable networks are planning specials, a town hall and other coverage Thursday tied to the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Correspondents also will report from sites around the country, with Vladimir Putin’s regime mounting a winter offensive.

Just after 5 AM ET on Monday, networks started to break in to regular programming for special reports that President Joe Biden had made a surprise trip to Ukraine.

Matt Damon revealed he is in the early stages of research in a documentary project tackling the war in Ukraine at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Matt Damon revealed he was in the “early stages” on a project about Ukraine during the press conference for “Kiss the Future” at the Berlin Film Festival. Damon is a producer on the documentary which chronicles the struggle of Sarajevo citizens during the Bosnian War. World premiering in the Berlinale Special section, the politically minded documentary is directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain and based on “Fools Rush in: A Memoir” the memoir of Bill Carter, an aid worker. It shows how his determination resulted in the enlistment of the world’s largest rock band, U2, to help shine a light. Fifth Season and WME handling worldwide sales. Asked if he was considering following the footsteps of Sean Penn with “Superpower” with a film on the war in Ukraine, he said he’s “watched as everyone has with horror that unfolded there in the last year,” and although they “don’t have anything on it right now there isn’t any doubt that we’ll be doing.”

There is a particular kind of audacity reserved for the wealthy and the well-meaning. Multi-award-winning actor and humanitarian Sean Penn co-directs “Superpower” with Aaron Kaufman, known mostly for his commercial work and his collaboration with writer-director Robert Rodriguez.

Investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a key figure in the story of acclaimed documentary Navalny, says he and his family have been banned from attending the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday because he poses “a public security risk”.