Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has a fan in Hollywood’s Sean Penn. The actor and filmmaker premiered his admiring portrait of Zelensky at the Berlin International Film Festival Saturday. As he did so, he told the audience that his documentary on Ukraine and Zelensky is also a wake-up call about America’s democracy, which he describes as fragile.

“Superpower” was being filmed in Ukraine when Putin invaded the country and the war began almost one year ago. Penn was filming a documentary in Kyiv about Zelensky’s rise from a comedian to a national leader. Penn conducted interviews with Zelensky on the night of Putin’s invasion and during the first months of Putin’s war in Ukraine. These interviews helped form what both men call a close friendship.

“It was a very moving way to start to get to know somebody,” Penn told reporters.

“Aside from meeting my children at their birth, the highlight of (my life was) meeting and sensing a great human heart of courage that day with that man.”

Penn returned to Kyiv last week to show the documentary to Zelensky and his team. Zelensky’s chief of staff tweeted thanks for a “great film.” Zelensky appeared via video link at the film festival’s opening ceremony Thursday. He asked for the entertainment industry’s help in keeping Western countries united behind Ukraine. “Cinema cannot change the world,” said Zelensky. “But it can influence and inspire people who can change the world.”

Penn is being called a propagandist by some critics but he is unapologetic about his film. He calls his documentary biased but it is the story he found in Ukraine. He admits that he naively did not believe that Putin would launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Penn refers to Putin as a “creepy little bully.”

There are reported to be plenty of grueling scenes of civilian deaths but there are also some lighter moments.

As he heads to the front line in the Donbas region, he jokes when he is handed a knife that the Ukrainian people can now rest easy because “Sean Penn is armed”, before brandishing two clenched fists at the camera.

And after months of the war, Penn treats Ukrainian air force pilots to a screening of “Top Gun: Maverick” and sets up a video call with one of its stars.

Sean Penn offers what he calls an idiot’s guide to the last decade of Ukrainian history. I wonder if he goes into the corruption that runs rampant in Ukraine in both government and business environments. What about Hunter Biden’s sweet, sweet deal with Burisma or Joe Biden’s strongarming the Ukrainian government to fire its top prosecutor in order to thwart an investigation?

Penn promotes the idea that America’s sense of exceptionalism is wrong and Zelensky’s Ukraine is showing the way to being better. This is where Penn and I part company. I will never accept the notion that American exceptionalism is wrong-headed or simply arrogant.

The film’s title comes from a scene in Zelensky’s hit comedy show “Servant of the People” in which he tells his young son that he will protect him from “bad guys” using his “superpower” — his love for his family.

But it is also an ironic reference to the United States and Russia. Penn argues that Ukraine could be now seen as “the better us” — a new global beacon for freedom and democracy.

“Growing up in the United States — this won’t be news to you — we are born with a misguided sense of exceptionalism,” Penn told reporters.

I admire Zelensky stepping up and defending Ukraine against Putin. Putin must be defeated and the Ukrainian people are showing much bravery and determination to defend their country. Zelensky is Churchillian in his understanding of defending freedom and sovereignty. He fights for freedom against a brutal dictator hellbent to take as much of Ukrainian land as he can get away with. What country will be next on his list if he is not stopped? Poland, perhaps? If he is not stopped, he will continue his march against free countries.

It is a little odd reading that a progressive like Penn calls for an acceleration of military support for Ukraine, but here we are. “The most significant humanitarian response that can happen right now is the delivery and supply of long-range precision missiles,” Penn said.

The film gets mixed reviews.

“It would be easy to write the whole thing off as one big and slightly dangerous vanity project, but let’s be honest: This war concerns all of us, and the actor is doing all he can to help the good guys.”

“Superpower” is running out of competition at the Berlin film festival, which is spotlighting Ukraine with a series of new documentaries and feature films.

I imagine the same will be true once it opens in the United States. Some conservatives, particularly the more isolationist wing of the Republican Party, are ready to end support to Ukraine. I fall into the category of supporting Zelensky and the Ukraine people in their fight for freedom, with the voice of past conservatives like Ronald Reagan ringing in my ears, but we do need accountability as to how our billions of dollars in financial and military equipment aid are being used. As I mentioned, Ukraine has a long history of corruption that can’t be ignored. Even during wartime, we must demand accountability to the American taxpayers for the resources Ukraine is receiving from the United States.