72 Films latest boxset series, The Zelensky series, tells the story of President of the Ukraine, a comedian who played the president, then became the real president.
Told across three episodes, the series charts Zelensky’s journey. It was filmed over several trips to Ukraine, Series Director Michael Waldman was granted rare access to interview President Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska, who speak about their extraordinary lives.
The Zelensky Story was commissioned for BBC Two and iPlayer by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Simon Young, Head of History. Produced by 72 Films in partnership with the Open University, the series is made by Series Director Michael Waldman, with Executive Producers David Glover and Jonathan Smith, Producer Jecca Powell and Producer/Director Louis Lee Ray. Fremantle is distributing the series globally.
72 Films has made documentaries about Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch. “Zelensky is now arguably the most significant figure on the world stage,” says Waldman. “He is at the epicentre of the 21st century’s most important political and military storm – a war which inevitably affects us all. On top of that, his personal story is quite simply extraordinary. Who could be a more fascinating person to get to know?”
The series paints a portrait of a young couple plunged into an extraordinary situation – childhood sweethearts who got married and rose to stardom, before being thrown into politics, and into the heart of the biggest invasion in Europe since World War II.
Filming had its challenges. “All Ukrainian airspace is completely closed,” says Waldman. “So me and the cameraman flew to Warsaw, then travelled by road to the Polish/Ukrainian border, then heaved all filming equipment onto the (always full) overnight train to Kyiv – and of course the same in reverse, so not easy to make last minute changes to plans! And when there, not only occasionally being woken up by air-raid sirens but also of course the massive security getting into the Office of the President building – and then further complicated layers to get into the inner sanctum.”
As well as interviews with the family and their inner circle, the series includes new accounts from world leaders including Boris Johnson, Nancy Pelosi, former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, and Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak, who each give dramatic first-hand testimony of their dealings with Zelensky – and Putin – in the lead up to a full-scale military invasion.
Waldman says, “my colleagues (producer Jecca Powell, producer/director Louis Lee Ray) came up with a fascinating array of contributors – from Boris Johnson and Nancy Pelosi to the Ukrainian TV mogul who was one of the first to spot the entertainment skills of young Volodymyr Zelensky; the President’s old school friends and colleagues; the man Zelensky chose to lead the delegation attempting to negotiate a peace deal with the Russians in the early stages of the war.”
Combining exclusive interviews with archive footage never before broadcast in the UK, the series sheds new light on the origins of the war in Ukraine and the two men at its epicentre: Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Asking Waldman if he discovered anything new, Waldman replies: “As the First Lady Olena Zelenska says to me on camera, “I’ve never said this out loud – but I had a faint hope that he wouldn’t win the election”
It launches on the BBC on September 4th.
Pippa Considine
Share this story
