This honor recognizes a unique career built over more than twenty years of artistic work, historical research, and audiovisual production dedicated to preserving the memory of Ukrainian immigration to Brazil and fostering cultural ties between the two countries.

A descendant of Ukrainian immigrants who arrived in Brazil in 1896, Guto Pasko has transformed his ancestry into a consistent creative thread throughout his filmography. From the documentary *Made in Ukraine – The Ukrainians in Paraná* (2005), through works such as *IVÁN* – Back to the Past, Yes, We Are Ukrainians Too, Among Us, The Stranger, and Hometown, the director has been chronicling different generations and stories of resistance, displacement, belonging, and identity.

In 2025, his connection to this world took on a national dimension with the fictional TV movie *My Grandfather Stanislau*, produced by GP7 Cinema for TV Globo. Set in the Ukrainian community of Prudentópolis (PR), the film moved more than 20 million Brazilians across various broadcast platforms, establishing itself as one of the most widely watched works of the director’s career.

Guto’s commitment to the contemporary reality of Ukraine has also extended beyond the artistic realm. Between August and September 2024, at the invitation of PEN Ukraine, the filmmaker visited the country as an international observer amid the war, an experience that is expected to give rise to a new film project currently in development.

The award granted by President Volodymyr Zelensky represents not only a personal recognition but also a milestone for Brazilian independent cinema and for the international trajectory of GP7 Cinema, which, over the course of its 25 years, has been producing works capable of connecting memory, identity, and cultural impact on a global scale.

With this honor, Guto Pasko joins a select group of international figures officially recognized by the Ukrainian government, reaffirming the power of cinema as a tool for historical preservation, cultural diplomacy, and bringing peoples closer together.

Link to the presidential decree