{
  "id": 17093046,
  "title": "Ukrainian Producer Oleg Kokhan: ‘The World Must See Ukraine Beyond War and Victimhood’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/ukrainian-producer-oleg-kokhan-the-world-must-see-ukraine-beyond-war",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T17:08:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Kyiv Post",
    "slug": "kyiv-post",
    "url": "https://www.kyivpost.com/post/88589"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ukrainian producer Oleg Kokhan, founder of SOTA Cinema Group, discusses the importance of Ukrainian cinema's international prospects and the need to decolonize the global cultural landscape. Being selected among five Ukrainian producers to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences signifies a significant shift for Ukraine. This opens new professional opportunities, expands their presence on the world's most influential film platform, and offers a direct voice in determining the best while building a network of cultural influence. The goal is to convert attention into real industry collaboration, creating new films, and advocating for Ukrainian films, ensuring Hollywood recognizes Ukraine as an equal, strong partner with unique experience and talent.\n\nKokhan explains that Hollywood has long worked with Russia despite its imperialist policies due to the comfort of familiarity and the optical illusion of Russian culture's significance. However, the war against Ukraine has revealed the true face of Russian culture, which has now become the principal source of legitimacy for Russian imperialism. The task of Ukrainian producers is not just to call for a boycott but to decolonize the Western perspective by offering their own distinctive, profound, and competitive content. This will prove that the center of European culture is in Kyiv, not Moscow.\n\nOne of Kokhan's recent projects, \"War Through the Eyes of Animals,\" aims to break through the \"wall of war fatigue\" by shifting Ukrainian trauma from a geopolitical context into a global environmental and humanitarian catastrophe. The film explores the humanitarian and environmental consequences of war through the eyes of various animals. Its inspiration lies in the universal code that can break through the saturation of information on violence, destruction, and human suffering during a major war. By showing the tragedy of war through the innocent eyes of animals, the film aims to reach straight into the hearts of any person, regardless of their location. This anthology film has received a warm reception from both Western and Ukrainian audiences, evoking guilt, empathy, and a sense of Ukraine's moral superiority in the face of the enemy.",
  "summary": "Oleg Kokhan, founder of SOTA Cinema Group and invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2026, discusses how Ukrainian cinema can break into global markets, challenge Russian cultural dominance, and turn international recognition into sustainable industry growth. In this interview with Kyiv Post, he talks about “War Through the Eyes of Animals,” international…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}