The American actor and director Sean Penn presented this Saturday the 18th at the Berlin Film Festival his documentary about Ukraine, superpower, that is the story of at the same time an obsession with its president, Volodimir Zelensky, a comic actor who became a world symbol of resistance.

Penn was in Kiev on February 24, 2022 when the first Russian missiles landed on Ukrainian soil. and Zelensky had to flee, completely changing the American director’s shooting plans.

Well-known activist for multiple causes in his country, Penn confesses an initial interest in the figure of this comedic actor turned president. An interest that quickly becomes an obsession. “It was a touching way to meet someone,” Penn explained at a press conference.

“Apart from the birth of my children,” the actor and militant confessed, “that meeting was one of the great moments of my life, where I felt that heart full of courage,” he added.

As the war progresses, Zelensky will not only remain at his post and in Kiev, risking his life and that of his family, but will ultimately make Ukrainians proud and united around it.

The blackmailer, which initially aroused skepticism among part of the Ukrainian population and international opinion, eventually aroused unanimous admiration.

Penn returns to Ukraine several times throughout the year to film the front lines in the eastern part of the country, shooting damage from the rearand to give Zelensky a voice inside and outside his refuge, always dressed in military attire.

Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman began filming Superpower in early 2021 and They traveled to Ukraine to learn more about Volodimyr Zelensky, the actor and comedian who played an unlikely televised presidential candidate before becoming Ukraine’s actual president..

As the explosions shook the city, Penn and Kaufman became unwitting front row witnesses to this historic “David and Goliath” fight. Penn conducted the first of several interviews with Zelensky the night of the invasion. and, deeply moved by what he saw in Kiev and during the film crew’s journey to the border, he became Ukraine’s unofficial ambassador and unlikely leader.

Two-time Oscar winner as a male actor (mystical river And Harvey milk), Penn knows how to film to deliver his passionate message in defense of Ukraine.

And Zelensky, also a renowned actor (also in Russia, as the documentary recalls), he always stands firm and concentrated in front of the camera to ask for more weapons from the West.