On November 20, Lavra gallery will open an exhibition Gareth Jones. The Diary dedicated to the prominent British journalist Gareth Jones who was the first one to tell the world the truth about Famine of 1932-33 in Ukraine. The exhibition organized by FILM.UA Group, Kinorob and AMUSEUM with the support of Ukrainian Cultural Fund and Ukrainian Institute of National Memory will become the first step in implementing a wide-scale social and raising awareness project from FILM.UA Group which aims to popularize Gareth Jones in Ukraine and the world.
Gareth Jones is a British journalist who, risking his life, visited Ukraine three times in the hardest period of its history. In 1930-1933 he saw the famine in his own eyes and, without a shadow of a doubt, loudly told the world about it. However, the world remained silent, Western politicians were unwilling to hear this inconvenient story, and respected media did not support the journalist in his struggle for the truth, continuing to publish alternative news born in Moscow. However, the seed sown by Gareth still sprouted up and disrupted the movement of totalitarian machine. Gareth’s journalist investigations later became the basis for Animal Farm, an allegorical novel by George Orwell.
“The idea of a wide-scale project popularizing the name of Gareth Jones and his contribution into spreading the truth over the world about Famine of 1932-33 in Ukraineas well as helping the recognition of Famine as a genocide of Ukrainian people was born during the work on Gareth Jones historical thriller directed by Agnieszka Holland; this is the film jointly created by Poland, Ukraine, and the UK,” says Egor Olesov, film producer. “The film will be widely released next year, and Gareth Jones. The Diary is our first attempt to familiarize Ukrainians with this outstanding personality.”
Gareth Jones. The Diary exhibition taking place from November 20 till December 10 in Lavra gallery is a story about the feeling of justice coming from one person who enabled the preservation of memory about the victims of Ukrainian people’s genocide. This is the story about real values able to strike the totalitarian system. This is a story of a human and his actions, of a personal choice between fairness and blindness, proving that a person’s choice even when this person is alone against the rest of the world is a deciding one.
“Gareth is a special figure and what happened to him in the end inscribes his name in the Ukrainian history. He is relatively known in Ukraine and we hope that thanks to the film he will become more famous in his country and the world over. I believe that such people as Gareth Jones who was not a slave to ideology and whose goal was to tell the truth no matter what are unfortunately hard to find. Even today, especially today,” said Agnieszka Holland, director, in her exclusive interview to MediaNanny.
The guide to the story of journalist Gareth Jones is his diary; the quotes from it illustrate and launch information blocks, each of them matched with a respective installation. In this way the exhibition visitors will be able to get immersed in the world of 1930s, find out the conditions in which he held his journalist investigations, which obstacles and lies he faced in his work, and which forces he had to oppose. And it is for us to ask ourselves the most painful question: What can I do against the totalitarian system? What can I put forward against evil?
Except the exhibition, this FILM.UA Group raising awareness project plans a range of events to popularize Gareth Jones, in particular:
Gareth Jones. The Diary
Slogan: Life for the sake of truth
Official hashtag: #forthesakeoftruth
Duration: November 20 – December 10, 2018
Venue: Lavra gallery (1 Lavrska str., Kyiv)
Organizers: FILM.UA Group, Kinorob and AMUSEUM
With the support of: Ukrainian Cultural Fund and Ukrainian Institute of National Memory
Gareth Jones historical thriller directed by Agnieszka Holland
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In 2019 Gareth Jones historical thriller directed by Agnieszka Holland will be released in Ukraine and internationally; the film has been jointly produced by Poland (Film Produkcja), Ukraine (FILM.UA Group, Kinorob with the support of Ukrainian State Film Agency) and the UK (Boy Jones Films). It is an incredible real-life story about a young Welsh journalist Gareth Jones who went to the Soviet Union in 1933 to uncover the truth about the crimes of Stalin’s regime and the Famine in Ukraine and to tell the global community about it. Something which seemed a regular journalist investigation at first turned into a deadly dangerous journey; its discoveries became the basis for Animal Farm, an allegorical novel by George Orwell.
The director of the film is Agnieszka Holland, head of European Film Academy, an Academy Award and BAFTA nominee, a recipient of Silver Bear at Berlinale 2017.
The lead roles are played by: James Norton (World and Peace, Happy Valley, McMafia) as Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, the protagonist of the film; Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Hobbs and Shaw) as British journalist Ada Brooks working in Moscow; Peter Sarsgaard, an American actor and Golden Globe nominee (Jackie, The Magnificent Seven, An Education) as Walter Duranty, head of The New York Times Moscow bureau.
Besides, others who have joined the cast include British actor Joseph Mawle (The Game of Thrones) as George Orwell and Kenneth Cranham (Maleficent, Valkyrie) as Lloyd George, UK prime minister during World War I. From the Ukrainian side, the actors include Yakiv Tkachenko (Pryputni), Oleg Drach (Battle for Sevastopol, Prayer for Hetman Mazepa), Volodymyr Fedoruk, Anna Shaydyuk, Anastasia Chala, and Alina Kovalska.
In March 2018, the filming took place in Ukraine; then, the international team worked in Poland and Scotland. International and Ukrainian premieres are planned for 2019.
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Producers: Claudia Smea, Stanislaw Dziedzic, Egor Olesov, Angus Lamont, Andrea Serdaru Barbul
Cameraman: Tomasz Naumiuk
Screenwriter: Andrea Serdaru Barbul
Cast: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle, Kenneth Cranham, Yakiv Tkachenko, Oleg Drach, Volodymyr Fedoruk, Anna Shaydyuk, Anastasia Chala, Alina Kovalska, and others
Costume designer: Oleksandra Stazko
Art director: Grzegorz Piontkowski
Composer: Antoni Komasa-Lazarkiewicz
Ukrainian premiere: 2019
Genre: historical thriller, drama
Production: Film Produkcja, Kinorob, Boy Jones Films, FILM.UA Group
with the support of Ukrainian State Film Agency and Polish Film Institute
Timing: 110 mins
