Sarah Jessica Parker to Produce Documentary Film About Wounded Ukrainian Soldier Doing Ballet

Hollywood actress Sarah Jessica Parker will be the executive producer for the documentary Front Row, which tells the story of a Ukrainian soldier who lost both legs and took up ballet, Variety reported.

The synopsis of the film, to be directed by Dutch documentary filmmaker and photographer Miriam Guttmann, was presented at the Mipcom international teleconference in Cannes, France.

It's based on the story of 26-year-old veteran Oleksandr Budko with the call sign "Teren," who served in the 49th separate platoon of the Karpatska Sich rifle battalion and lost both legs during the Kharkiv counteroffensive.

Budko got prostheses and would go on to dance on the stage of an American theater.

In July 2023, the Ukrainian ballet troupe United Ukrainian Ballet staged Giselle at the California Theater and invited Budko to perform a separate dance at the end of the performance.

While Budko was being fitted for his prosthetics in the US, he met Alexei Ratmansky, a soloist of the United Ukrainian Ballet, who offered to make the joint project. The performance garnered praise.

"Front Row puts perseverance and the human condition on display against the punishing background of war. Giving these dancers an international platform to tell their stories through the power, beauty and grit of ballet is a profound honor," the US actress said.

Recently, Budko came out with the autobiographical novel The Story of a Stubborn Man, in which he talks about courage, loyalty, honesty before himself and fellow citizens, and about faith in Victory and Ukraine.

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