Participating exhibitors across the United States have pledged to donate the box office proceeds of Oles Sanin’s The Guide, opening in select theaters on Friday, March 18, to Ukrainian relief efforts.
The film’s director and producer, Sanin, is currently locked down in Kyiv, but has just provided a moving introduction which will screen with the film.
The 2014 Ukrainian title The Guide is a drama set in the 1930s depicting the “Terror Famine” the country suffered under Soviet rule. It was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. The film won the Best Actor and Cinematography awards that year at the Odessa International Film Festival and was nominated for the grand prize at both the Odessa and Warsaw 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. Marshall Strauss, a long-time human rights activist, is board president of this national group which was established in 1994 and has handled millions in donations.
“Less than two weeks ago, I offered my cinema in suburban Boston to show The Guide as a fundraiser for Ukraine relief,” said Strauss. “Almost instantly, the effort exploded in size and key industry leaders joined the project, donating their services. Now, cinemas across the country are agreeing to show this milestone movie. The director and I agreed on only one condition: ticket proceeds are to go to humanitarian relief for Ukraine. Americans have this unique opportunity to stand with the people of Ukraine. We are all looking for a way to help. We now have it.”
Proceeds from the fundraiser 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. Among those to be supported will be the International Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration.
To support the effort, the Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition will be delivering the film by satellite, while PaperAirplane Media will provide the marketing assets and necessary support materials. Distribution will be handled by Falling Forward Films. All parties are working free of charge to ensure as much money as possible from this fundraiser is delivered to the Ukrainian people.
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