Munich (ots) – When Sean Penn began filming “Superpower” in late 2021, a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s Russia was a real threat, but one that seemed distant. Penn traveled to Ukraine to learn more about Volodymyr Zelensky, the actor and comedian who had played an unlikely presidential candidate on television before actually becoming president of Ukraine. At this point, Zelensky was best known to Americans for his role in the 2019 Trump-Ukraine scandal.
- It was actually supposed to be a portrait of a man who went from comedian to president of Ukraine. But when Sean Penn met Volodymyr Zelenskyj for a conversation in Kiev on February 24, 2022, events came to a head: Russia started its war of aggression against Ukraine.
- “Superpower – Sean Penn in Ukraine” portrays Zelensky and at the same time documents the dramatic events before and after the outbreak of war as well as Penn’s travels in and through Ukraine.
- Sean Penn: “Zelenskyj puts a face to the extraordinary courage of all the Ukrainians we met.”
- TV premiere in German-speaking countries on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at 8:15 p.m. on The HISTORY Channel (also in stream and on demand via WOW, the YouTube Primetime Channels and the Amazon Prime Video Channels)
But on February 24, 2022, while Sean Penn was filming in Kiev, events came to a head. As explosions rocked the city, he unintentionally became a witness to this sad historical moment. An agreed meeting with Zelensky took place despite the threatening and dramatic events, and when Sean Penn and his team then set off on foot back to their hotel – they had been advised not to use a vehicle as this could be a target for attacks come – was completely open about how the situation would develop further. The two-time Oscar winner successfully tried to leave the country in the following days, but returned to Ukraine a few weeks later to document what was happening on site. Not only did he meet President Zelensky again and conduct a series of in-depth, very personal interviews with him, but he also traveled to the front lines to speak to those who risk their lives every day to defend their homeland.
“Superpower – Sean Penn in Ukraine” was created as part of Penn’s seven trips to Ukraine. In addition to detailed interviews with Volodymyr Zelensky, the two-hour documentary also contains conversations with numerous other Ukrainians as well as with experts, activists, journalists and politicians. It thus offers a glimpse into a country fighting for its freedom – documenting the months and hours leading up to the invasion, up to the moment Putin fired missiles into Kiev, and the devastating consequences that continue to this day.
Sean Penn about his documentary and the Ukrainian president: “Zelenskyj puts a face to the extraordinary courage of all the Ukrainians we met – people with and without uniform, teachers and even children.”
The people featured in Sean Penn’s documentary include Steven Pifer (former US Ambassador to Ukraine), Vitali Klitschko (Mayor of Kiev), Yulia Marushevska (Ukrainian activist), Andrij Jermak (Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office), Christopher Miller (Ukraine correspondent for the Financial Times), Volodymyr Yermolenko (Ukrainian philosopher), Alex Frishberg (Ukrainian lawyer), Iryna Matviyishyn (Ukrainian journalist), Ilya Ponomarev (Russian-Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur), Oleksiy Honcharuk (former Prime Minister of Ukraine ), Dmytro Kuleba (Foreign Minister of Ukraine), Mateusz Morawiecki (former Polish Prime Minister), Robert C. O’Brien (former US National Security Advisor) and Nataliya Gumenyuk (Ukrainian journalist).
The TV premiere of “Superpower – Sean Penn in Ukraine” will take place in German-speaking countries on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at 8:15 p.m. exclusively on The HISTORY Channel (also in the stream and on demand via WOW, the YouTube Primetime Channels and the Amazon Prime Video Channels). A preliminary version of the documentary was shown as a preview at the Berlinale in February 2023 – still during the production process.
FIFTH SEASON handled worldwide distribution of “Superpower” and co-financed the documentary with VICE News. It was produced by VICE Studios and Projected Picture Works and stars Penn, Aaron Kaufman, Billy Smith, Sergei Bespalov, Danny Gabai and Lauren Terp. Kate Ward, Katie Peck, Andrew Freston, Bruce Dixon, Hozefa Lokhandwala, Subrata De, Susan Zirinsky, Terence Wrong, Anthony Gudas, Chad A. Verdi and Sasha Cherniavsky served as executive producers.
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