SHORTS WORN BY Paul Mescal in the popular show Normal People have been put up for auction to support filmmakers affected by the war in Ukraine.

A signed pair of shorts and other Normal People memorabilia are being auctioned as part of a campaign organised by a group of independent Irish filmmakers.

Funds raised are set to go to filmmakers documenting the war in Ukraine through the Docudays Ukraine Appeal and to the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) to support filmmakers from Ukraine and Russia who may need to relocate.

Órla Murphy of Filmmakers supporting Filmmakers, the group behind the auction, said that “in sending these funds to our fellow filmmakers we are also sending a message of solidarity, hope and respect”.

The auction opened this morning and closes Sunday 17 July at 6pm. 

Along with the blue-and-yellow shorts, the auction includes a signed script of the first episode and a signed hardback book of scripts which also features photography by Enda Bowe, the show’s publicity photographer.

Orwa Nyrabia of the ICFR Ukraine said: “ We established ICFR because we believed that film people everywhere are a community, that attacking one film person anywhere is an attack on all of us, that with such acts of solidarity we can show the whole world that film people will stand up for each other.”

“With our Irish colleagues’ efforts, that faith is renewed,” Nyrabia said.

“The plight of our Ukrainian colleagues today concerns all of us, and no matter how small or big our contributions can be, they first and foremost send a message that is not financial; ‘we are with you, you are not alone’.”

Chief Programmer of Docudays, a Ukrainian documentary filmmaker festival, Darya Busel said that Ukrainian filmmakers have risked their lives in recent months to document the atrocities of war and showcase them to the world.

“Not only that – they are gathering footage for future films,” Busel said.

“I’m sure the films that will emerge from the work that is being done now, will help us to understand this historical moment, when the whole world has to reconsider the principles on which it is built.

These films to come will help us to face our traumas and to reconnect with ourselves, because the worst thing the war is doing to you is that it takes your life from you in every possible way; you can no longer plan anything, you are parted with your loved ones, you lose your home and everything you’ve been working so hard your whole life for… and in the end, one day, you can even be killed.

“It’s true that maybe cinema cannot change anything in the short term but it can definitely change a lot in the long perspective,” Busel said.