Made with Lisa Vapné and Ariane Chemin, the documentary invites us to understand how Volodia, a Russian -speaking child who has become a TV show, has become the symbol of the Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion. An accessible documentary on the Arte platform this Monday, May 5, which will be broadcast on the channel on May 13, from 9 p.m.
His name spreads in capital letters on the documentary poster: “Zelensky”. The symbol of the Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion since February 24, 2022. No president in uniform however to illustrate the poster: it is indeed a child in pioneer outfit, perfectly tied red scarf, impassive face, which occupies the space. The pioneers, a movement founded in 1922 to brighten children from 10 to 14 years old from the Soviet Union. This child is Vladimir Alexandrovitch Zelensky, born January 25, 1978 in Kryvyi Rih, south-east of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine. A child who, 41 years later, will access the presidency of his country, which became independent in 1991. In just over two hours, the documentary by Yves Jeuland, Lisa Vapné and Ariane Chemin tells the romantic destiny of the Russian -speaking child who has become Ukrainian president. A film first accessible from this Monday, May 5, on the Artetv.fr site, before a broadcast on the Arte channel, Tuesday May 13, at 9 p.m.
Read also:
“How Volodia became Zelensky”: the documentary of the Carcassonnais director Yves Jeuland which tells the incredible destiny of the Ukrainian president
With his two directors, the Carcassonnais Yves Jeuland offers a dive into the improbable story of Zelensky. The result of three filming periods in Ukraine, in February, April and August 2024: it was during this last trip that the meeting with the Ukrainian president takes place. A precious 45 -minute meeting which offers a powerful red thread to this film fed by rare archives, from the tour of Zelensky with his Kvartal 95 troop in Donbass in 2014 to support the Ukrainian soldiers at the 2019 presidential “debate” with Poroshenko, in a stadium.
A documentary that tells the metamorphosis of a man
A documentary that also relies on testimonies, rare, too: Tata Tania, the mother of her childhood friend Denys Manzhosov; Alexandre Rodnianski, the former producer of TV shows; Olexiï Kiriouchenko, the director of Servant of the peoplethe series in which Zelensky embodies Goloborodko, a geo history teacher who will become president; Or two former teachers of the little “volodia”. So many actors and witnesses of the improbable ascent of Zelensky. A documentary that “Tells the metamorphosis of a man”specifies Yves Jeuland.
The opportunity also of a side step, while Ukrainian news evolves day by day and at the whim of Trump’s mood swings; While the Russian strikes also continue to sow death. The opportunity to immerse yourself in the history of a country and a man: “Zelensky’s news is strong at the moment, but it was already strong three years ago, and it will still probably be strong for long enough, Considers Yves Jeuland. And the interest in Zelensky, we can hope that he will not stop from the moment there is a ceasefire. We tell the story of the transformation of man, of his romantic destiny, with a rocking in February 2022. For me, this film, as we made, is a film that we can see in 5 years, in 10 years, because it will be the testimony of someone’s transformation, no matter what it becomes after. “
