MONEY RAISED FROM an auction of props used during the filming of Normal People, including shorts worn by Paul Mescal, are to be used to help fund a short film about the war in Ukraine. 

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

Funds raised are going 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.

Part of these funds have now been awarded to a young documentary filmmaker, Li Biletska, for the creation of a short film. 

In addition, Irish company Outer Limits has offered to provide post-production services pro-bono. 

Biletska is from the Ukrainian city of Kherson. However, she has been displaced and now lives in Kyiv. 

Her winning project was selected from over 400 applicants by an international jury of judges to receive the special bursary from Ireland. 

Biletska’s film will be able the lives of people living under occupation in the city of Kerson. 

It documents the inhabitants as they move from their initial hopes of a quick release, into the reality of a longer-term occupation.

“Being at the beginning of a new business is very exciting and a little scary. This award is [a] very valuable support to me as an artist, but even more valuable is the opportunity to tell a story about life under occupation in Kerson,” Biletska said. 

“I believe that supporting Ukrainian culture and artists is an important contribution to the victory of the future over the past,” she said.