Page 13 - Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Ukrainian President and Unlikely Hero

the country’s attention, his pupils create a crowd-funding
platform which raises enough money for a campaign. In a
ash, he’s elected to the presidency. 5

Having been thrust into the presidency, Golo-
borodko must now try to live up to the ideals and “Where does it say
standards he set in the angry rant his student that servants should
posted online. “You’re servants of the people,” live better than their
the former teacher tells the Ukrainian politicians masters?” 6
when he rst meets with them. “In actuality, the — Goloborodko, ctional
Greek word ‘democracy’ translates as ‘rule of character in Servant of the
People
the people,’ not ‘rule over the people.’ Where
does it say that servants should live better than
their masters?” 6
This principled, ethical attitude does not go down well with
many of the country’s politicians, who are used to sel shly using
their powerful positions to advance and enrich themselves. And
Goloborodko is dismayed when he witnesses some of his own
friends and relatives trying to cash in on the fact that they are
connected to the new president. He sticks to his high standards,
however, as exempli ed by one of his public speeches. After no-
ticing that some of his former students are in the audience, he
discards the empty words written by his aides and speaks from
his heart, saying, “This is some story. A history teacher makes it

Film-Directing Skills, Too!

In 2018 many people in Ukraine, as well as in nations around the world, were de-
lighted to discover that in addition to his skills as an actor, comedian, and dancer,
Volodymyr Zelenskyy could also direct lms. That year his production company
released the romantic comedy Me. You. He. She. which he codirected (with Ameri-
can director David Dodson) and starred in. The plot revolves around Maxim and
his wife, Yana, who have been married for ten years. Unfortunately for them, the
passion has gone out of the relationship, and they stay together more out of duty
and mutual respect than love. Each becomes attracted to someone else, so they
le for divorce. According to Ukrainian law, however, they have a month’s waiting
period before the decree becomes nal, and in that interval they decide to act out
various love-related fantasies they dared not do before, with heartwarming results.
The lm’s nancial success can be seen in its raw gures. It cost $1.3 million to
make and in the initial, brief box of ce period alone grossed $2.7 million.