Volodymyr Obodzinskyi, a character of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, met with the Pope

The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Francis, and documentary filmmaker Yevhen Afineevskyi received a joint award, the Cinema for Peace Award, from the Berlin Cinema for Peace Foundation. Volodymyr Obodzinskyi, a character of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, was invited to an audience with the Pope on the occasion of the award.

This year’s award is dedicated to the memory of the children who died during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the confirmed statistics, the aggressor state has taken the lives of at least 500 Ukrainian children, three of whom are from the family of Volodymyr Obodzinskyi. The portraits of Volodymyr’s son, who was 14 years old, and his one-year-old grandchildren Nicole and Denis are engraved on each of the three presented awards, the Cinema for Peace Awards.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a Russian plane dropped two bombs on Volodymyr’s house in the village of Yurivka in Zhytomyr region. The lives of his wife, daughter, son, and his twin grandchildren were cut short in a moment. He shared the story of his loss with the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, and with this step, the wide-ranging coverage of one specific and very brutal crime by the Russians began.

“I am grateful to the Foundation’s team that record materials about the tragedies that the Russians have caused and are still causing. If you had not filmed my story, none of this would have happened,” says Volodymyr Obodzinskyi. You can hear and watch his story at the link bit. ly/3TVXbRa

One of the Award winners is Yevhen Afineevskyi, director of the film Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom. He was one of the keynote speakers at the April panel discussion of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation on the topic “What the Ukrainian cinema should be like in order to win?”

It is noteworthy that earlier the winners of the Cinema for Peace Award were Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jane Goodall, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, and George Clooney. However, for the first time ever, a joint award has been given to the two world leaders and one filmmaker. In addition, for the first time, the awards are dedicated to children.

Every story about the war matters. To preserve the memory for a better future, share your story on the portal of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation Civilian Voices, the Museum of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation or via the toll-free hotline (800) 509 001