Odesa-born filmmaker Leonid Mogilevskyy inspired Quentin Tarantino, preserved historic Ukrainian footage, discovered Hollywood stars, and made pioneering films about women’s rights and racism.

Quentin Tarantino admitted that he was inspired by the films of an Odesa-born filmmaker when making Inglourious Basterds. He publicly called the man’s editing cuts the best he had ever seen. The director was Leonid Mogilevskyy, known by the pseudonym Leo Mogi. This was reported by Sho Tam.

He began his career in 1920s Odesa, where he worked as a legal adviser at a film studio. There, Leonid developed a passion for editing and assembled the legendary film Documents of the Epoch from newsreel footage. It is thanks to him that we have footage of Symon Petliura and Pavlo Skoropadskyi.

When the director filmed the real consequences of collectivization, he was immediately reprimanded by the authorities. Realizing the danger, Mogilevskyy left for France to study sound and decided never to return. He quickly gained recognition in Paris and received an award at the Venice Film Festival.

During one of his shoots, Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop showed up on his set uninvited. Mogilevskyy stopped filming and showed the high-ranking official the door. As a result, after the occupation of Paris, the Nazis immediately banned his new film.

Fleeing the war in Europe, the director moved to the United States, where he worked in Hollywood and discovered new talent. He helped launch Ava Gardner’s career and personally paid for the training of a then-unknown Sophia Loren. He was also among the first in Europe to make bold films addressing women’s rights and the fight against racism.

After he retired, the director’s name faded into obscurity, but in the 21st century, Tarantino brought his legacy back into the spotlight. The Hollywood auteur even named a lawyer character in Django Unchained after his Ukrainian inspiration. Thus, the Odesa-born filmmaker who preserved footage of our history became part of world cinema.