to film a documentary about the Russian invasion of the country, which began a year ago yesterday (February 24, 2022). In a statement released by the Office of the President of the Ukraine at the time, it read: “The director specifically came to Kyiv to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country.”In a new interview, Penn recalled how he and Nicholson met the dictator at the 2001 Moscow Film Festival, where Penn’s film The Pledge was premiering.Revealing that the pair travelled with Putin to Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov’s estate, Penn told The Independent: “We were put in a convoy.
We knew that Putin was going to be the honoured guest.“In the nature of that time and space, we accepted the invitation. We got in this convoy.
And we were going as fast as they wanted to drive, with no care for whether it might have presented danger in the villages we drove through.
When farmers with pony-driven carts were trying to come across, the security people in our vehicles would lean out the window to baton them away.
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