Liev Schreiber and ‘Ukrainians in Exile’ Director Janek Ambros Set for Lakes Noir Film Festival Tribute

Liev Schreiber will receive the Global Noir Icon Award as an actor and activist at a closing ceremony for the Lakes Noir International Film Festival.

The Sept. 27 gala in Luino, Italy, will also honor BlueCheck Ukraine, a humanitarian organization Schreiber co-founded, and give the Global Noir Visionary Award to Ukrainians in Exile director Janek Ambros.

In addition, the late Hayden Panettiere, who supported BlueCheck Ukraine, will receive a moment of silence at the festival’s Grand Finale Gala ceremony. Lakes Noir will screen the 2024 documentary Ukrainians in Exile, directed by Ambros and executive produced by Schreiber. Panettiere passed away on Aug. 17 at age 36. The circumstances of her death are currently under investigation.

Filmed on the Ukrainian border just weeks into the 2022 conflict, the film is executive produced by Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan) and has served as a fundraising vehicle for BlueCheck Ukraine.  

Panettiere will be honored at the Lakes Noir gala for her support of Ukraine, which stemmed in part from a nine-year relationship with Wladimir Klitschko, brother to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, with whom she had a daughter, Kaya.

In March 2022, Panettiere founded the charity Hoplon International to offer direct relief and life-saving body armor and medical kits to front-line Ukrainian soldiers. BlueCheck Ukraine was also launched in March 2022 to provide emergency support to populations in Ukraine impacted by the ongoing war with Russia.

The Lakes Noir Film Festival spotlights the “noir” aesthetic, including stylized crime dramas to dark and sobering documentaries.