Hollywood actor Sean Penn seems to have spent as much time as an actor as a political campaigner.
Penn has admired Marxist thug Hugo Chavez, expressed support for Gaddafi, who has been called an unvaccinated criminal, and seems to have had a brief man-crush on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In February 2022, Penn traveled to Ukraine for the first time while working on a war documentary, making a total of six trips during filming.
In April 2022, Penn told Newsweek, “The only possible reason I was in Ukraine last time was to have a rifle, maybe without body armor, because as a foreigner, you want to give that body. Armor to a civilian combatant who doesn’t have it.” Or to a warrior with more skill than me, or to a younger man or woman who can fight longer or whatever.”
Penn was with Zelensky “the day before the invasion” and “during the invasion, on the first day” and said, “It struck me that I was now looking at a man who knew he had to rise to the ultimate level of man. Courage and leadership. I remember Kari finds out that she was born to do this.
Penn’s resulting documentary, “Superpowers,” premiered Friday night at the Berlin Film Festival. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “And when the credits rolled less than two hours later, the Berlin crowd rose to its feet to give Penn and his collaborators a warm standing ovation.”
Yahoo! News reports:
Sean Penn premiered “Superpower,” an acclaimed portrait of embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday, saying the movie was a wake-up call to Americans about their own fragile democracy.
The two-time Oscar winner was in Kiev about a year ago when Russia invaded to make a documentary about Zelensky’s rise from comedian to national leader.
On that first terrifying night and in a series of interviews in the early months of the attack, Penn and Zelensky developed what they both call a close friendship.
“It was a very moving way to get to know someone,” Penn told reporters.
Apart from seeing my children when they were born, the highlight (of my life) was meeting and experiencing a great human heart with that man that day.”
Zelensky joined Penn via video link at Thursday’s opening ceremony for the entertainment industry’s sustained support to unite Western nations behind Ukraine.
“Cinema cannot change the world,” Zelensky said. “But it can influence and inspire people who can change the world.”
The trained actor insists in the film that the sooner the war ends, the less likely it is that one day “Americans will have to fight” Russia’s war against NATO.
Penn, who appears in almost every scene of the two-hour movie made for Vice Media, said he was called “the propagandist.”
“We made a very unnecessarily biased film because it was the true story,” he said.