“I’ve always thought that you have to do a lot to be useful, but in reality it’s enough to just do something. And that’s why I do everything I can,” said Director Michel Hazanavicius in a Kyiv interview. An Oscar winner and the first French ambassador of UNITED24, Hazanavicius’ grandmother was born in the small Ukrainian town of Kovel, and he visited Ukraine personally in February 2023.
He had been supporting our country long before that, however: in 2018 his signature was in the official letter from the French Society of Cinematographers regarding the Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, who was illegally held captive in russia. In April 2022, as per the request of Ukrainians, he renamed his movie Z to Coupez! (Final Cut). In December 2022, he held a charity auction in support of Ukraine, during which he managed to raise 250,000 euros. Many world stars of the filmmaking and musical industries took part in the auction: Tom Hanks, Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon, Natalie Portman, and also Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk acclaim.
Michel donated half of the raised funds — 125,000 euros — via UNITED24 to help rebuild Ukraine. That is how our shared history began.
On February 7th of 2023, Hazanavicius arrived at the Central Railway Station in Kyiv. Over the next few days, he personally met with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, became an ambassador for UNITED24, went to see burnt russian machinery in the city center, and visited towns devastated by russian aggression.
Michel compared his visit to cinema. Only, everything he saw in Ukraine was real, not merely a movie set.
DESCRIBED HAZANAVICIUS.
