Spielberg Hosts Premiere of Holocaust Documentary in Kyiv

American filmmaker Steven Spielberg and Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk hosted the premiere of Spell Your Name, a film on the Holocaust by well-known  Ukrainian film director Serhij Bukovsky on October 18.  The premiere took place at the International Centre of Culture and Arts (the former Zhovnevyi Palace) in central Kyiv.

The event marked Spielberg’s first trip to Ukraine, the country of his family’s origins.

 President Victor Yushchenko, his predecessor, Leonid Kuchma, and Victor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s Prime Minister, attended the premiere as did singer Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, of the band Okean Elzy, and boxer Vitalyi Klitschko. Also in attendance were Holocaust survivors featured in the documentary and political, cultural, and leaders of the Jewish community.

Spell Your Name, produced by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education with financial support from Pinchuk, focuses on testimonies of Jewish survivors who escaped brutal execution and those who rescued friends and neighbours during the Holocaust.  In the documentary, the survivors tell their stories to Bukovsky and three Ukrainian journalism students. The men and women featured in the film share the details of their experiences in Ukrainian and Russian.

“To prepare for the film, we viewed nearly 500 testimonies at the USC Shoah Foundation Institute in Los Angeles.  As I watched, I could imagine making a film from every single one,” said Bukovsky.

Spielberg, who established the Shoah Foundation in 1994, is co-executive producer of Spell Your Name, with Pinchuk, the country’s second-richest oligarch and the son-in-law of former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma.

“The stories and experiences of survivors in Ukraine need to be seen and heard by the people of the world, who may not know what happened in Ukraine during the Holocaust,” said Spielberg. “Serhij’s work is compelling art, and it beautifully conveys the emotions experienced by the students who took this journey of discovery.”

“My appreciation and gratitude also go to my friend Victor Pinchuk, whose generous support and commitment to making a film on this subject made it possible for the USC Shoah Foundation Institute to make Spell Your Name,” he added.

Pinchuk, commenting on the film said: “It is essential that we learn the lessons of history, and the testimonies gathered by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute that you will see in this film are the most compelling teachers for Ukraine and all the world.”