Vladimir Zelensky spoke at the opening of the Berlin Film Festival

The premiere of Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy “She Came to Me” opens the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. The jury of the main competition headed by the American actress Kristen Stewart presented 17 feature films, including “Music” by Angela Shanelek, “Red Sky” by Christian Petzold, “The Big Wagon” by Philip Harrell, “Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey to the Desert” by Margaret von Trotta, and two full-length cartoons.

The President of Ukraine addressed the guests of the festival via video link. Volodymyr Zelensky reminded that the cinematographer is capable of symbolically destroying walls, including ideological ones. In Wim Wenders’ film “Sky over Berlin”, filmed two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city was already united.

According to Zelensky, now Russia, which has been destroying peaceful cities and killing people for a year, wants to build a similar wall between Ukraine and Europe, between freedom and slavery, between civilization and tyranny. The President reminded that last night the Russian troops again shelled the territory of Ukraine.

Zelensky 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. He thanked the Berlinale for its support and called Ukraine “the fortress of the free world, which will stand and win.”

Volodymyr Zelensky became the main character of Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary “Superpower”, which will premiere on February 17. Filming began in Ukraine in 2021. Penn and Kaufman were interested in the phenomenon of a popular actor who became president. On February 24, 2022, the purpose of the film changed. Sean Penn turned out to be the first journalist who interviewed Zelensky shortly after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and then spoke with him more than once. Penn also spoke at the opening of the festival and talked about his work on “Superpower”.

The Berlinale statement states that the festival “resolutely condemns Russia’s ongoing war of aggression, which violates international law, and expresses its solidarity with the people of Ukraine and all those who oppose this war.” The Berlinale badge in the shape of a bear is painted this year in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The festival also came out in support of the participants of the protests that are ongoing in Iran.

On February 24, a demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine will be held on the red carpet at the Festival Palace. It will be attended by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Aleksey Makeev, cinematographers and representatives of the Kyiv and Odessa film festivals.

The premiere of the documentary film “Eastern Front” by Vitaly Manskyi and Evgeny Tytarenko about the life of Ukrainians on the front line and in the rear will take place in the “Stolknovenia” competition. Filming began on February 24, 2022. The “Forum” program features the film “In Ukraine” by Peter Pavlyus and Tomasz Volsky – Polish filmmakers studied the traces left by the war in different regions of the country.

Director Steven Spielberg became the guest of honor at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. He will receive an award for his contribution to cinematography.