In March 2022, Sean Penn spent time in Ukraine and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in the midst of the beginnings of Russia’s war of aggression against his country and its people.
On Saturday, Penn’s documentary “Superpower – Sean Penn in Ukraine” will celebrate its TV premiere in Germany. A small film project became a war film, as Penn himself explained to the “Bild” newspaper.
“It should have been a charming little film about this man who started out as a comedian and then suddenly became president, who took on the corruption in his country,” said the Hollywood star. “A lot of time passed, then the pandemic came and everything was delayed even further until we finally wanted to start. And suddenly the Russians marched – and we were in the middle of the war,” says Penn.
Speaking to the newspaper, Penn also gave a glimpse into his inner self as he realized what was happening in the country in early 2022. The Ukrainians, but also themselves. “I probably only realized that this war was really coming three days before the Russian invasion. And then I realized that something like this could actually happen anywhere in the world. In any place “I’m familiar with it and that it can happen to people like my children, my friends,” he reveals.
At that time, Penn had to leave the country in a hurry. It simply became too dangerous. “Two colleagues and I walked kilometers to the Polish border after leaving our car on the side of the road,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, at the time, alongside a picture of himself with a rolling suitcase in his hand. Next to him you can see: a long line of parked cars. “Almost all of the cars in this photo are occupied only by women and children, most of them have no luggage with them, and the car is their only valuable item,” explained the Hollywood star in 2022.
Penn has a clear answer to what he would do with Vladimir Putin if he met him in the “Bild” interview. “Bang,” he says. Although he was a “child of the Vietnam War” and grew up with terrible images, he can no longer be a pacifist when it comes to the Ukraine War, reveals Penn. “I (…) never believed that more weapons would create peace. But in this case, we should give Ukraine everything we have to stop this war,” said the filmmaker.
Sean Penn’s documentary “Superpower – Sean Penn in Ukraine” airs at 8:15 p.m. on the History Channel
Source: “Bild” newspaper
also read
“Car left on the side of the road”: Sean Penn fled Ukraine to Poland on foot
