عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

Ukraine Can Win War, Hollywood’s Liev Schreiber Says in Davos

Actor Liev Schreiber looks on during an interview at Ukraine House in Davos, Switzerland May 23, 2022. (Reuters)
Actor Liev Schreiber looks on during an interview at Ukraine House in Davos, Switzerland May 23, 2022. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Ukraine Can Win War, Hollywood’s Liev Schreiber Says in Davos

Actor Liev Schreiber looks on during an interview at Ukraine House in Davos, Switzerland May 23, 2022. (Reuters)
Actor Liev Schreiber looks on during an interview at Ukraine House in Davos, Switzerland May 23, 2022. (Reuters)

Ukraine can win the war against Russia but it will be a long fight and the conflict must not be allowed to fade out of the news, Hollywood actor Liev Schreiber said on Monday in Davos.

"It's overwhelming how resilient the Ukrainian people are," Schreiber, whose grandfather was of Ukrainian and Polish descent, told Reuters TV on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

The actor and director spoke after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed global business leaders in the Swiss resort, pressing countries to ratchet up sanctions against Russia as a warning to others considering using brute force.

The president's speech kicked off in earnest the four-day meeting that gathers some 2,000 business and economic leaders as well as experts, with Ukraine topping the agenda.

Schreiber, who made the 2005 movie "Everything is Illuminated" in Ukraine, is best known as protagonist of the series Ray Donovan. He said it was just "a matter of time" that Ukrainians were going to win but the conflict must be kept in the news.

"This could go on for some time and there's a danger of it fading from the news cycle ... and I think we have to remember that these people are in the fight of their lives right now for values and principles that we share, I think, as Europeans and Americans," he told Reuters TV.

"In terms of what's needed, support, financial support, strategy, reconstruction - all of these things are perfectly suited, I think to the World Economic Forum."

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Alfonso Cuarón is the first to admit that he does not know how to make a television series. He might even be too old to learn how, he said.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker has technically now made a series, the seven-part AppleTV+ show “Disclaimer,” four episodes of which premiered Thursday at the Venice Film Festival. But he did it his way: Like a film.

Based on Renée Knight’s 2015 book of the same name, “Disclaimer” is a psychological thriller about a documentarian and journalist, Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett), who discovers she’s a character in a novel that reveals her darkest secret.

Cuarón, Blanchett and Kevin Kline all made the journey to the Italian film festival to debut and speak about the show before it begins streaming on Oct. 11.

“I read the book and immediately in my mind I saw a film, but I didn’t know how to make that film,” Cuarón, the director of films including “Gravity” and “Roma,” said in a news conference Thursday. “It was way too long. I could not shape it as such.”

It was only later, he said, that he thought it might work in longer form, inspired by predecessors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, David Lynch and Krzysztof Kieślowski.

“I was intrigued and that was the point of departure,” Cuarón said.

He started writing with one name in mind for Catherine: Blanchett, terrified that she might say no. Not only did she not say no, she also was the one who suggested Kline for a British character. Sacha Baron Cohen plays her husband in the show and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays her son.

All soon realized that approaching it as a film, and shooting it as a film, would take much longer than a normal series. He even enlisted two cinematographers, Emmanuel Lubezki and Bruno Delbonnel, to add a distinct visual language to the different perspectives in the story. All told, it took about a year.

“It was a really long process,” Cuarón said. “And I really feel for the actors because they were stuck with the characters for way too long.”

Blanchett laughed that they were “still recovering.”

The final three episodes will screen Friday at the festival. Though the festival is most known for its feature film premieres, it does play host to select series as well. This year those also include Joe Wright’s Mussolini biopic “M: Son of the Century,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The New Years” and Thomas Vinterberg’s “Families Like Ours.”