Zelensky to show up at Berlinale; fest to screen Sean Penn documentary on him

Los Angeles : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to make an appearance at the Berlinale, ‘Variety’ has learned.

A Berlin Film Festival spokesperson confirmed that Zelensky will be present “in some kind of form”, although “which and when is not confirmed yet”.

The Festival is opening on Thursday, February 16.

Zelensky is the subject of one of the festival’s most high-profile projects: Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s top-secret documentary ‘Superpower’.

The details of the film, according to ‘Variety’, have remained sparse for more than a year, when it was first revealed that Penn had been in Ukraine when the war with Russia broke out.

The Ukrainian leader has been making a number of virtual appearances at various awards ceremonies (the Golden Globes being the last and at Cannes). In recent weeks he’s been venturing outside the country and making trips around Europe, notes ‘Variety’.

Last week, in what was his second trip outside Ukraine (the first was to the US just before Christmas), he met UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and France’s President Emmanuel Macron, and addressed the European Parliament.