The Polish Film Academy came out in support of Oleh Sentsov

Members of the Polish Film Academy staged a display of solidarity with Ukrainian director Oleh Sentsov who had been kidnapped from Crimea and secretly transported to Russia. The display took place in Warsaw during the Eagles-2015 Polish cinema awards ceremony. The academy’s head Dariusz Jablonski was the one to come forward with the idea of holding the protest. Previously, he suggested that people willing to support the detained Ukrainian take a picture of themselves holding a poster reading “I Am Oleh Sentsov.” “Let us do what we can to free our Ukrainian colleague, a director who wanted to live peacefully in the country where he was born and created movies!” Jablonski noted. During the “Polish Oscars” ceremony, he joined composer and singer of Ukrainian origin Olena Leonenko in presenting Sentsov’s story and also asked the audience to hold up posters reading “I Am Oleh Sentsov,” Ukrinform reports.

Let us recall that Ukrainian director Sentsov was arrested in Crimea in May 2014 because of his pro-Ukrainian stance and support for Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea. He has been under investigation in Moscow ever since, charged of “terrorism” and “illegal arms trade.” His trial will start this April. The Ukrainian director may be sentenced to up to 17 years in prison. The Ukrainian government and world cinema community have been actively protesting the Sentsov trial at various venues.