KYIV, Ukraine — He has spoken with two film stars by video name from the bombarded and encircled metropolis of Kyiv.
His aides lobbied the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences for an Oscar evening present of assist. He rereleased his personal tv present on Netflix in the midst of the struggle.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, the actor turned wartime chief of Ukraine, has devoted most of his public appearances to appeals to Western nations for deadly weaponry to battle the Russians: tanks, jets and missiles.
However Mr. Zelensky, who earlier than he turned president had starred in romantic comedies and carried out stand-up routines, has additionally pressed for celebrities and artists to talk up for his nation, in what aides say is a worthwhile effort to solidify Ukraine’s international smooth energy benefit over Russia.
“We stay within the trendy world, and we all know that opinion makers and celebrities are essential,” mentioned Ekaterine Zguladze, a former deputy minister of inside now concerned within the Ukrainian authorities’s effort to win assist from artists, musicians and celebrities. “Not solely politicians form the world.”
Ms. Zguladze added: “Proper now, there exists real solidarity all over the world for Ukraine. And this solidarity isn’t due to the heartbreaking photos of destroyed cities and human tragedy, however due to the values all of us share.”
However Ukraine’s attraction to the academy, the group that awards the Oscars, has encountered drama of its personal.
Earlier than the present, organizers mentioned the struggle can be famous and the human toll honored, however had not dedicated to a video look by Mr. Zelensky, mentioned Brian Keith Etheridge, a sitcom author based mostly in Los Angeles. He helped coordinate the Ukrainian authorities’s outreach to the academy, with assist from Mila Kunis, an actress of Ukrainian origin, and her husband, Ashton Kutcher.
“The priority that we had been informed is, they don’t wish to overly politicize the present,” Mr. Etheridge mentioned. “If Zelensky simply says ‘thanks’ it would remind individuals, and it may increase hundreds of thousands of {dollars}. It’s such a large platform simply to have his face present up.”
Sean Penn, who had been filming a documentary in Ukraine when the struggle broke out, has referred to as for a boycott of the Oscars if Mr. Zelensky isn’t permitted to look by video and vowed to smelt his personal awards if the academy snubs the Ukrainian chief. The award statues are fabricated from gold-plated bronze.
If the Oscar producers don’t permit an look for “the management in Ukraine, who’re taking bullets and bombs for us, together with the Ukrainian youngsters that they’re attempting to guard, then I believe each single a kind of individuals, and each little bit of that call, can have been probably the most obscene second in all of Hollywood historical past,” Mr. Penn informed CNN in an interview.
Talking at a information convention on Thursday, the producers mentioned they meant to commemorate the struggle’s toll however didn’t decide to a video look by Mr. Zelensky.
“We’re going to be very considerate about how we acknowledge the place we’re on the planet,” Will Packer, a producer of the Oscar ceremony, mentioned Thursday at a information convention.
Of a attainable look by Mr. Zelensky, he mentioned: “The present is within the course of, in order that’s not one thing that we might definitively say a technique or one other at this level. As I’ve talked about earlier than, we wish to be enjoyable and celebratory, however we actually are going to try this in a respectful manner.”
The comedic actress Wanda Sykes, one of many ceremony’s co-hosts, famous of Mr. Zelensky, “Isn’t he busy proper now?”
Whereas Mr. Zelensky’s aides have pressed for assist in the course of the present in no matter type it takes, in search of any avenue to win public backing within the West, the worth of superstar assist in a taking pictures struggle isn’t universally acknowledged in Ukraine.
“In the end, it’s essential what is occurring on the bottom,” Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former secretary of Ukraine’s Nationwide Safety and Protection Council, mentioned. “Everyone is doing what they will. I don’t know if another speech of Zelensky will make a distinction. But it surely’s good those that provoke it wish to do it. Everyone needs to assist in any manner attainable.”
However Mr. Danylyuk mentioned that “in the long run, you want outcomes,” like provides of fighter jets, tanks or missiles for the Ukrainian Military.
Mr. Zelensky has pressed on all fronts to convey to a broad viewers, and significantly to international locations which are offering weaponry, the ethical crucial of supporting Ukraine within the struggle.
“Normally, Zelensky is admittedly following the information from Hollywood and on the lookout for alternatives for assist,” Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the president’s chief of workers, mentioned in an interview.
The push for backing for Ukraine in the course of the Oscars started per week in the past, after Mr. Zelensky spoke on a video name from Kyiv with Mr. Kutcher and Ms. Kunis, to thank the couple for elevating $35 million for Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian help in a GoFundMe marketing campaign, Mr. Leshchenko mentioned.
Ms. Kunis most not too long ago starred in “Breaking Information in Yuba County” and has a deliberate film launch by Netflix, “Luckiest Lady Alive.”
“Ukrainians are proud and courageous individuals who deserve our assist in their time of want,” she wrote within the fund-raising attraction. “This unjust assault on Ukraine and humanity at giant is devastating and the Ukrainian individuals want our assist.”
After the video name, Mr. Zelensky’s aides sought a last-minute slot on the Oscar ceremony.
Mr. Zelensky has all the time had a eager sense of picture and storytelling in politics. Earlier this month, he mentioned he was conscious that his repeated televised appeals for resistance, and continued presence within the beleaguered capital, had turned him into an emblem of bravery in lots of international locations.
The Oscars are additionally a pure match for an attraction by his authorities for humanitarian help, as a lot of his high aides are additionally film business veterans.
The chief of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, was a media lawyer and film producer. The top of the home intelligence company, Ivan Bakanov, had been the director of the Kvartal 95 studio. A chief presidential adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was a screenwriter and producer whose main credit included successful romantic comedy movie, “Eight First Dates,” and a tv collection, “The In-laws.”
Earlier than turning into president of Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky performed a president in his personal tv collection, “Servant of the Folks,” which was rereleased on Netflix this month. The character, a instructor, is propelled to the presidency after he goes on a tirade in opposition to corruption, which is filmed by his college students in a video that goes viral.
Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv, and Matt Stevens from New York.
