Joaquin Rafael Phoenix is an American actor. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films and period dramas, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, The New York Times named him one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Richard Bartlett Schroder is an American actor and filmmaker. As a child actor billed as Ricky Schroder he debuted in the film The Champ (1979), for which he became the youngest Golden Globe award recipient, and went on to become a child star on the sitcom Silver Spoons (1982–87). He has continued acting as an adult, usually billed as Rick Schroder, notably in the Western miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989) and on the police drama series NYPD Blue (1998–2001). He made his directorial debut with the film Black Cloud (2004) and has produced several films and television series, including the anthology film Locker 13 and the war documentary The Fighting Season.
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) was an international animal rights campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), Europe's largest contract animal-testing laboratory. HLS tests medical and non-medical substances on around 75,000 animals every year, from rats to primates. It has been the subject of several major leaks or undercover investigations by activists and reporters since 1989.
Gogol Bordello is an American punk rock band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 by musicians from all over the world and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Romani music mixed with punk and dub, incorporating accordion and violin.
Persia White is a Bahamaian-born American actress, singer and musician. White is known for her role as Denise Williams on the short-lived television series Breaker High and as Lynn Searcy on the UPN/CW sitcom Girlfriends. White is also a member of the band XEO3, and a solo singer who released her debut album Mecca in 2009. She is also known for her role as Abby Bennett Wilson in The Vampire Diaries (2012-2017).
Shaun Monson is an American film director and producer and activist for animal rights and environmentalism. He wrote, directed, and produced the 2005 documentary Earthlings, which covers animal rights issues within industries such as pets, food, fashion, entertainment, and animal testing.
The Artivist Film Festival & Awards is an international film festival and awards ceremony dedicated to recognizing activist efforts of filmmakers, specifically in the areas of human rights, child advocacy, environmental preservation, and animal rights.
Unity is a 2015 documentary film written, directed and produced by Shaun Monson, and the sequel to the 2005 film Earthlings. The film is narrated by one hundred actors, artists, athletes, authors, businessmen, entertainers, filmmakers, military personnel and musicians. The film was released worldwide on August 12, 2015.
The Animals Film is a 1981 feature documentary film about the use of animals by human beings, directed by Victor Schonfeld and Myriam Alaux, and narrated by actress Julie Christie.
The Witness is a 2000 documentary film about animal rights directed by Jenny Stein. It was produced by James LaVeck. LaVeck and Stein's non-profit organization is Tribe of Heart.
Joaquin Phoenix is an American actor who started his career performing as a child on television. He appeared on the shows Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982) and Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984) with his brother River Phoenix and on an episode of Murder, She Wrote (1984) with his sister Summer Phoenix. He made his feature film debut in SpaceCamp (1986) and had his first starring role in Russkies (1987). His first major film release was Ron Howard's dramedy Parenthood (1989) with Steve Martin. During his period as a child actor, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, his self-given name. Six years later, he changed his name back to Joaquin and co-starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the Gus Van Sant-directed crime comedy-drama To Die For (1995), a critical hit. In 1997, Phoenix co-starred in Oliver Stone's crime thriller U Turn opposite Sean Penn and starred opposite Liv Tyler in the coming-of-age film Inventing the Abbotts. Phoenix starred in the crime-comedy film Clay Pigeons (1998), Return to Paradise (1998) followed by a role in the crime mystery thriller 8mm (1999) with Nicolas Cage. Phoenix's first role in 2000 was in his first collaboration with director James Gray in the crime film The Yards. He followed this with supporting roles in the Ridley Scott-directed historical epic Gladiator (2000) opposite Russell Crowe and as priest Abbé de Coulmier in the Philip Kaufman-directed period film Quills (2000), opposite Geoffrey Rush. For his role as the villain Commodus in the former, Phoenix earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Oleh Hennadiiovych Sentsov is a Ukrainian filmmaker, writer and activist from Crimea. Sentsov has directed the feature films Gamer (2011), Numbers, and Rhino (2021).
Servant of the People, sometimes also known as Servant of the Nation, is a Ukrainian political satire comedy television series created and produced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who stars as Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko, a high-school history teacher in his thirties who is unexpectedly elected President of Ukraine after a viral video filmed by one of his students shows him making a profane rant against government corruption in his country. The series ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2019, and a film adaptation was released in 2016.
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy is a Ukrainian politician who has been serving as the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019. He was formerly a comedian and actor.
Dominion is a 2018 Australian documentary film. The documentary was primarily filmed with hidden cameras and drones inside Australian farms and abattoirs. According to the New York Times, Dominion "claims to expose the routine and inhumane practices of animal agriculture in Australia". The film portrayed the killing of livestock through methods such as using carbon dioxide to gas pigs, and maceration of chicks. The film uses shock tactics with footage to depict abuse as common in multiple industries in Australia, especially agricultural livestock while focusing its message on animal rights.
On June 19, 2020, 65-year-old Canadian animal rights activist and protester Regan Russell was run over and killed by a livestock transport truck after a demonstration outside Sofina Foods Inc. subsidiary Fearman's Pork Inc., a pig slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario. The driver of the truck was convicted of careless driving causing death.
Jonathan Berman is an American film producer, director, screenwriter, and academic. He is best known for his documentary work as producer and film director of The Shvitz (1993), My Friend Paul (1999), Commune (2005), and Calling All Earthlings (2018). His non-fiction feature films explore subculture and identity, depicting how alternative people, groups and ideas are represented in media. Berman currently serves as a professor at California State University San Marcos.
On 21 July 2020, a hostage situation took place in Lutsk, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. Maksym Kryvosh seized a BAZ A079 bus and barricaded himself and 13 passengers inside at the Teatralna Square. The crisis was eventually resolved with the release of the hostages and Kryvosh's arrest.
Patron is a detection dog and mascot for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. He is a Jack Russell Terrier.
