Oscar Shortlist 2025: Liev Schreiber Named Executive Producer of 'Once Upon a Time in Ukraine'

Actor and activist Liev Schreiber has officially joined the Oscar-shortlisted documentary ‘Once Upon a Time in Ukraine’ as an executive producer, according to Deadline on December 22.

The documentary shares stories of Ukrainian children finding resilience amid war. Ivanna, a young artist from Kherson, spent 256 days in a cellar creating illustrations of Ukrainian defenders’ bravery. Eight-year-old Ruslan from Moshchun dreams of rebuilding his bombed-out home and fishes in a missile-formed pond.

The film also features Maksym, a 10-year-old from Bucha who processes trauma through piano and ballroom dancing, though his mother fears he and his brother may one day need to fight. Miroslava, an 8-year-old gymnast, recounts fleeing Mariupol with her mother, saying, “I never knew what war is… I didn’t even know the word ‘war.’”

“A moving and empowering tribute to the courage and creative spirit of Ukrainian children. Stunning scenes of life behind the frontlines ask us to look into the eyes of these beautiful children, consider the fight for a free Ukraine, and be moved to action,” Schreiber stated.

Schreiber, who has Ukrainian heritage on his mother’s side, is the co-founder of BlueCheck Ukraine, a nonprofit supporting Ukrainian NGOs.

He also directed ‘Meeting Zelenskyy,’ a documentary about the Ukrainian President, and served as executive producer on the 2022 short documentary ‘Ukrainians in Exile’ and the 2024 feature ‘Rule of Two Walls,’ which explores Ukraine’s war through the perspective of its artists.

Previously, two documentaries about the war in Ukraine, ‘Porcelain War’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Ukraine,’ have made it onto the shortlists for the 2025 Oscars.