MICHIGAN, USA — Movie theatres across the country are looking to band together to provide humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.
Along with hundreds of theatres around the country, Celebration Cinema locations will be screening Ukraine's 2014 Academy Award entry, "The Guide."
The theatres will donate 100% of the ticket revenue to benefit Ukraine.
“It’s easy to begin to feel numb and crippled by tragic events that are beyond our control,” says Emily Loeks, of Celebration Cinema. “But story connects us. This is one small way to be attentive to history, stand with the people of Ukraine and help.”
Ukraine has a rich history of filmmaking and this film taps into that history. "The Guide" takes place in 1930s Soviet Russia during a massive famine caused by the Soviet agriculture and other policies.
The story centers on the characters of Peter, a 10-year-old boy who has suffered enormous loss, and a blind priest who does everything in his power to help the boy grow and survive with a kind and clear soul, not permanently compromised by what he has experienced.
13 On Your Side reporter Andrea Flores spoke with the star of the movie, Anton Greene about his role in the movie and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
"It's part of my past that I wasn't expecting to get dug up all of a sudden," he says. "But I am incredibly happy to be able to do something that helps Ukraine in a substantial way."
Greene says there's parallels between the movie and the current war.
"What's happening in Ukraine is the same thing. Russia is bombing apartment buildings, they're bombing hospitals. And Ukraine just doesn't deserve this," he says.
He's not just connected to Ukraine because of the movie, but through his family too.
"We would go there every summer, before the pandemic," Greene says.
Thankfully, most of his family there is on the western side of the country.
"Tthey are all doing, you know, as well as you can as a Ukrainian right now," he says.
But Greene has heard from friends on the east side too.
"My friend told me that he has to they get electricity 30 minutes a day from a generator that they have to communicate with anyone," he says. "He has to go to the top of his apartment building, which isn't the safest place to be right now. And they have they're living off of reserves and everything so it's it's really rough."
As the war wages on, he hopes people who see this movie understand the country's tough history.
"This is really our history, just trying to fight off Russia and trying to survive as a nation and to have our culture thrive," Greene says.
Greene is currently a student at the University of Michigan studying political science. You can watch the interview below.
The film, by Ukrainian film director Oles Sanin, won the Best Actor and Cinematography awards that year at the Odessa International Film Festival.
Donations from cinemas will be forwarded to a special Ukraine Relief Fund that is being managed by Human & Civil Rights Organizations of America, Inc.
Proceeds will be forwarded to selected nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations already active in providing humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people in Ukraine and nearby countries.
Find screening times at CelebrationCinema.com.
Watch the trailer for the film below:
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