He was a devoted friend of Ukraine: American director Aaron Kaufman, who stayed in Kyiv with Zelensky in February 2022, has died
Aaron Kaufman, the American director of the films Superpower, Machete, and Sin City, died on Thursday, October 17, in Las Vegas, USA, at the age of 51. The man, who supported Ukraine in the war and made a movie about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suffered a heart attack.
Variety magazine reports that the death was confirmed by producer Chad Verdi, who had previously worked with the director. Aaron Kaufman is best known for his work on the Emmy Award-winning film Superpower. For this documentary, the director lived in Ukraine under fire in February 2022 and spent time with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He came to Kyiv a few weeks before Russia's full-scale invasion and decided not to return to the United States for a while.
The director died as a result of a heart attack.
The source notes that while working on Superpower, Aaron Kaufman did not set out to make a movie about war. His goal was to depict the development of Volodymyr Zelenskyy from a popular comedian to his statement about refusing to go abroad at the beginning of a full-scale war in order not to leave his people to the occupiers.
Mike Simpson of WME, who worked with the director on Zelensky's speech at the Golden Globes 2023, drew attention to Kaufman's dedication and desire to tell the world more about Ukraine, "even if it meant risking his life."
"Aaron, who had been in Kyiv for several weeks before the invasion began, wrote to me that he and Sean Penn had just walked 50 miles (80 km) from Lviv to the Polish border and that the movie was taking on a whole new meaning. I will never forget the passion and bravery with which Aaron helped bring Ukraine's message to a global audience," said Simpson.
The documentary Superpower centers on actor Sean Penn, who travels to Ukraine during a major war to learn more about comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who became president in 2019. Aaron Kaufman is not in the footage of these conversations, because it was Penn who later visited Ukraine to record the interview.
Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that the police named the probable cause of death of the former member of the world-famous One Direction band Liam Payne. Officers claim that at the time of his death, the artist was under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, but they do not confirm his drug use.
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Volodymyr Zelensky
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