The premiere of Sean Penn’s film about warring Ukraine took place in Berlin

Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary “Superpower” premiered at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. This word is heard in the TV series “Servant of the People”: the son asks the main character, played by Vladimir Zelensky, what superpower is.

Filming began in Ukraine in November 2021. Initially, Penn and Kaufman were interested in the phenomenon of a popular comedian becoming a politician. We see the stages of Zelensky’s career, fragments from his show, a triumphant victory in the presidential elections, and then a decrease in the rating.

Sean Penn admits that he did not know the history of Ukraine well and only during the preparation for filming did he understand how the country has changed since 2014. Documentary footage (including those shot by Radio Liberty correspondents) illustrates the story of the Maidan, the fall of Yanukovych’s regime, and the annexation of Crimea.

On February 24, 2022, the purpose of the film changed. Sean Penn was in Kyiv and met with President Zelensky shortly after the start of the Russian invasion. The film crew left Ukraine for security reasons, but in the summer and autumn, filming resumed and took place not only in the rear, but also on the front lines: Sean Penn visited Severodonetsk during the battles for the city.

Among Penn’s interlocutors are the head of the president’s office Yermak, the Minister of Defense Reznikov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kuleb, the mayor of Kyiv Klitschko, as well as Ukrainian and American journalists, diplomats, political scientists, soldiers of the National Defense and military.

Putin’s Russia is presented in the film as a terrorist state, with numerous evidence of crimes committed by the Russian armed forces against the civilian population. Sean Penn inspects apartments in a multi-story building half-destroyed by a Russian missile, and the territory of a kindergarten that came under fire.

One of the main themes of the film is the need to expand military aid to Ukraine. Sean Penn is convinced that delay is dangerous, and the US must do everything possible to stop aggression. He admires the courage of the Ukrainian people and President Volodymyr Zelensky and is sure that if Ukraine does not receive the weapons it is asking for now, the conflict may drag on and the entire free world will be under threat.

Sean Penn came to Berlin from Kyiv, where he showed “Superpower” to Zelensky. After the premiere of the film at the Berlin Film Festival, the audience gave the directors and crew a standing ovation.

• Sean Penn is an American actor, film director and producer. He twice became an Oscar winner: for the main roles in the films “Mysterious River” in 2004 and “Harvey Milk” in 2009. On his account, the awards of the Cannes, Venice, Berlin festivals and many other prizes. Penn is a political activist who advocates for civil liberties. In his interviews, he repeatedly expressed support for the Ukrainian people and condemned Russian aggression, calling on the American authorities to expand military aid to Ukraine.
• On November 8, 2022, during a meeting in Kyiv with Volodymyr Zelensky, Sean Penn handed over one of his “Oscars” to the President of Ukraine with the words: “When you win, you will bring it back to Malibu.” Zelensky awarded Penn with the Order of Merit for his support of the Ukrainian people.
• In September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia put Sean Penn and actor Ben Stiller on the “stop list” and banned them from entering the country.
• On February 16, Vladimir Zelensky spoke at the opening of the Berlinale via video link. He said that now, when Russia is waging a total war, art cannot remain indifferent to politics, and cinema must inspire people capable of changing the world. The President thanked the Berlinale for its support and called Ukraine “the fortress of the free world, which will stand and win.”