Review: "How Volodya Became Zelenskyy"

A new French documentary

Screenshot from the documentary

At the beginning of 2023, French journalist Ariane Chemin published a series of articles in Le Monde about the life of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The five stories covered Zelenskyy’s childhood in Kryvyi Rih, his rise to fame as an entertainer, and his role as president up until what was then the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The reports included new interviews with Zelenskyy’s friends and colleagues as well as material gathered from other publicly available research.

Later that year, an idea gradually developed for a film inspired by the Le Monde stories. Director Yves Jeuland started filming in February 2024, initially for several weeks in Kryvyi Rih. The crew revisited some of the subjects of the original interviews, but this time, they also managed to schedule a meeting with Zelenskyy in August 2024. The two-part film, How Volodya Became Zelenskyy, was finally released through the Arte channel on May 6, 2025.

Part one opens with footage from August 24, 2024, the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, but it quickly shifts to scenes of Kryvyi Rih. There is a lengthy description of the late Soviet era in Ukraine, with childhood memories shared by Zelenskyy’s former colleague, Denys Manzhosov. Zelenskyy looks through old class photos and reflects on the transition to independence and away from communist ideals.

Screenshot from the documentary

The film crew had also brought video for Zelenskyy to see. He seems delighted to hear his old school teachers praise his student years, and he talks about how his parents kept him busy so that he would stay out of trouble and away from the dangerous youth gangs known as “runners”. There are comments from Sasha Pikalov and Olena Kravets, both of whom also grew up in Kryvyi Rih. They discuss their teenage years, their rebellious rock-and-roll style, and their start in theatre and KVN.

Oleksandr Rodnyansky, who had a hand in Zelenskyy’s early television career, explains the draw of Moscow in those days. It was the “big market” that could quickly elevate anyone to success. Unfortunately, if you were Ukrainian, that would only take you so far. Rodnyansky tells the story of how Zelenskyy and his friends left Moscow after several years and created their own success back home in Ukraine.

The film shows a few examples of Kvartal 95’s popular sketches, depicting their brazen but relatable sense of humor. It’s not until they get to the topic of big-screen movies, particularly Rzhevsky Against Napoleon, which was released in 2012, that it cuts back to their 2024 interview with Zelenskyy. He smiles and says that he is “happy to recall those memories,” but that he doesn’t have much time for nostalgia because of his current responsibilities.

Part two begins with Zelenskyy’s speech to the Cannes film festival in 2022. He points to the parallels between Hitler and Putin. Then, picking up where part one left off, the film summarizes the events of Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity. There is footage from Kvartal 95’s trip to the front lines to entertain the Ukrainian defenders during the summer of 2014.

The bulk of part two concerns the show Servant of the People, which first aired in 2015. Writer Yuriy Kostyuk and director Andriy Kiryuschenko offer their perspective of how the idea originated. At this point, there is a section which explores Zelenskyy’s Jewish heritage and how it related to his comedy. The conversation then switches to Zelenskyy’s run for president and his unconventional campaign, which happened concurrently with the third season of the show.

Zelenskyy on the set of Servant of the People

Coverage of the full-scale invasion rounds out part two. There are accounts of the night before the attack and a section on Bucha, which is no less horrifying three years later. The end of the film returns to Servant of the People, looking back at what feels like a prescient message, though it has now become a bittersweet reality for those who were involved.

The creators of this documentary clearly put a great deal of effort and thought into the project, which I appreciate. I am impressed with the amount of time — three weeks, apparently — that they spent in Kryvyi Rih to thoroughly explore Zelenskyy’s childhood environment. They also did a decent job of highlighting moments from his entertainment career. The subtitled videos were a nice touch.

My main criticism is that they often relied too heavily on quotes and anecdotes from secondary sources, and these assertions occasionally excluded some important background details. For example, they concluded that Zelenskyy “wasn’t at Maidan” because he had been in Moscow on December 17 for the premiere of the movie Love in the Big City 2. This “fact” has been presented in other biographies and ignores the verifiable reality that Zelenskyy spent most of his time in Kyiv during the winter of 2013-2014. Additionally, in her book The Zelensky Effect, Olga Onuch cites sources who confirm that Zelenskyy “joined some of the protests” in Kyiv.

I would have liked more conversation with Zelenskyy about his time in the media industry. Without seeing the unedited interview, it’s unknown how much they asked him about it, but I was disappointed that there was only one specific comment from him about the entire period from 1996 until 2012. Though I completely understand the difficulty of trying to include a 20-year career in a two-hour documentary, I hope that someday we will see a more in-depth look at that part of his history.

This film is a nice overview, nonetheless, with some unique focus. It appeals to a wide audience and is like a pleasant trip down memory lane for the more meticulous researchers. It was made for French and German speakers, but the interviews, especially with Zelenskyy, make this worth watching for people around the world.

If you have already seen it, what did you think? What did you learn that you didn’t know before?

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