The first trailer has been released for Superpower, Sean Penn’s documentary about the Ukraine war, co-directed by Penn and Aaron Kaufman.
The trailer shows how Penn was taken by surprise by the invasion, having intended to make a film about Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s journey from comic actor to becoming the country’s president.
Superpower includes scenes with Zelenskiy in Kyiv when the first bombs were dropped on the city by Russian forces in February 2022. “We are just ordinary people who want to live in our country,” Zelenskiy tells Penn in his bunker.
Penn and his crew made seven trips to Ukraine to shoot the film, but it also shows him discussing conflict more widely. The unity he witnessed, he tells the US conservative commentator Sean Hannity, “makes you realise what we’ve been missing”.
Such a mission is echoed by Zelenskiy, who tells Penn: “We need Americans to understand the price we have to pay to be free.”
The film is positioned as an unapologetically cheerleading celebration of the Ukrainian president, whom Penn describes as “the embodiment of [a] hope” he had been searching for.
Superpower’s official synopsis calls Zelenskiy “the most significant wartime leader of the modern era,” adding, “This onetime actor turned president is leading his country in conflict with a nuclear superpower, becoming a crucible of history. Amid moments of levity, inspiration and on-the-ground storytelling, the film shows that Ukraine’s superpower lies in the strength of its leader, its people and ultimately its heart.”
Penn also speaks to veterans from the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea, the widow of a man who died at Maidan, as well as children, teachers, people who have lost their homes, musicians and politicians. He also speaks to those undergoing military training, including young female recruits.
Last November, Penn lent one of his Oscars to Zelenskiy, saying it was a “a symbolic silly thing” and asked him to return it once Ukraine had triumphed.
Penn, 63, has won Academy Awards for his acting work on Mystic River and Milk, and has directed five previous films and published a novel. He is one of Hollywood’s most prominent activists: he has spoken out against presidents including George W Bush and Donald Trump and helped to marshal aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Superpower will premiere on 18 September on Paramount+.