WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The "Stand With Ukraine Through Film" project is coming to Images Cinema.  

 

Images Cinema will host a special screening of "The Guide" on May 30 at 7:30 p.m.  

 

Tickets are available for purchase through their website (https://imagescinema.org/movie/the-guide-2014/), and patrons will contribute as they wish. Donations will be also accepted through QR codes, which will be placed in the lobby for moviegoers to scan, and donation jars will also be placed on-site.  All event proceeds will go toward supporting Ukraine.  

 

Featured everywhere from Good Morning America (Community theaters come together to raise money for Ukraine) to Capitol Hill, the project has raised more than $150,000 to support Ukraine and continues to grow.

 

"The Guide" is a two-hour dramatic film produced by Ukrainian Director Oles Sanin in 2014, which is set against Soviet efforts to exterminate the Ukrainian people in the 1930s through starvation and other policies.   It was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, and despite the film's historical setting, it feels quite current. 

 

Last year, a small, community cinema in Salem kickstarted the global release of the 2014 film to support Ukraine. The first showing at Cinema Salem in March 2022 raised $12,000 in one evening. Immediately after its premiere in Massachusetts, "The Guide" was released nationwide, and within days, 600 cinemas across the U.S. agreed to screen it. Cinemas in Canada, Holland and Australia soon followed.

 

The Guide has now been screened at nearly 700 cinemas. It has also been shown on Capitol Hill with Congressman Seth Moulton among the notable speakers.  The project has issued grants, with recipients including José Andrés' World Central Kitchen, Ukrainian Studies Fund, Razom, the International Organization on Migration and Plast.  

 

"We are delighted to partner with Images Cinema, as we continue to offer support to Ukraine through philanthropic efforts and the education of Americans.  This historic venue will be providing its community members with a unique opportunity to both learn about and discuss the war's impacts.  We're grateful for their participation, and we're proud to be working with them in this endeavor," said Lisa Vucelich, spokesperson for the project.

 

Marshall Strauss, Project Organizer, added, "We are so excited that Images Cinema is playing The Guide, a film which provides a powerful insight into the tragedy of Russian efforts to dominate – indeed, to exterminate – the people of Ukraine.  Cinemas around the U.S. and in other countries are providing badly needed support to Ukrainians – support which they deeply appreciate."