Paul Mescal’s GAA shorts from Normal People to be auctioned to help Ukrainian filmmakers

As part of a campaign organised by a group of independent Irish filmmakers, Element Pictures, and Director Lenny Abrahamson, Paul Mescal's signed GAA shorts, a signed script of the first episode and signed hardback book of scripts from the multi award-winning series Normal People have been donated to the unique fundraiser in support of film makers affected by the crisis in Ukraine.

The online auction has been launched today and it will continue until Sunday July 17th and 6pm on easyliveauctions.com.

All funds will go to the Ukranian Documentary Filmmaker Festival’s (Docudays.ua) Ukraine Appeal to support filmmakers still documenting the war and to the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk Ukraine appeal to support filmmakers from Ukraine and Russia who may need to relocate.

The distinctive blue and yellow GAA shorts featured in the series launched a thousand fan memes and had Gucci designing imitation pairs for sale.

Normal People was BBC’s most streamed show of 2020, racking up 62.7 million streams from its launch in April to December.

The show and all involved have multiple award nominations and wins, including four Emmy nominations, seven BAFTA nominations, and a Best Actor win for Paul Mescal.

The Normal People auction is being organised by Órla Murphy who in March gathered together a group of independent Irish filmmakers to raise funds and awareness.

The group has already raised just over €10,000 to support their colleagues impacted by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

“In sending these funds to our fellow filmmakers we are also sending a message of solidarity, hope and respect,” Ms Murphy.

"What is happening in Ukraine is utterly devastating. Along with Lenny Abrahamson, we at Element are proud to be supporting these charities and admire their brilliant work to help film makers" added Ed Guiney, Founder and Company Director of Element Pictures.

Meanwhile, Chief Programmer of Docudays.ua Darya Busel said Ukrainian filmmakers are “risking their lives and mental health” to document the atrocities of war and let the world know about the war crimes.

"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,” she said.