Sean Penn Urges Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner to See His New Documentary About Ukraine War

Sean Penn has publicly urged Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to watch his newly executive-produced documentary about the war in Ukraine, Black Sunflowers. Penn shared his views during an interview with Vanity Fair, published on September 12.

The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, is directed by Marcus Haney. It chronicles the lives of Gen Z Ukrainians — including ravers, street racers, artists and frontline soldiers — navigating their youth amidst the brutal reality of a full-scale invasion.

Penn, 66, emphasized that the film makes no effort to attack any political administration. Instead, he wants the pair to connect with the human elements of the conflict and take the chance to reflect.

Kushner, 45, acting as an unofficial but powerful diplomatic envoy for Donald Trump’s second administration, is directly leading high-stakes shuttle diplomacy to broker a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Working closely with official U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared has become a central mediator between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“This film makes no effort to attack any president. And these kids' stories are so familiar that there's no reason not to present something that lets somebody connect and have a chance to reflect. And some will and some won't,” Penn said.

Although he wanted the couple to watch the film, Penn did not hold back his criticism of the POTUS’ broader foreign policy stance.

He explicitly criticized a previous decision to revoke USAID funding in Ukraine, witnessing firsthand how it harmed minority groups and amputees.

Although he did label Donald's policy decisions regarding aid to Ukraine as "negligent homicide," he later reflected on the blunt terminology, clarifying, “It's not polite, which is ironic. We are accepting a great degree of denial, and we still believe that we're bulletproof.”

Penn extended his viewing invitation to everyone, stating he urges the "most right-wing person in America and the most left" to watch the stories of these young Ukrainians.

He added that he remains generally "not confident in the Democrats at large" to solve the crisis easily.

“Black Sunflowers should be seen by the most right-wing person in America and the most left,” he said.

The documentary is expected to be broadcast for free in the United States to maximize its reach and combat the ongoing "information war" surrounding Russian narratives.

When asked by Vanity Fair if the young generation of Ukrainians featured in the documentary should still have hope, the movie star answered, “In terms of victory, that got done a long time ago. Ukrainians won. Ukrainians represented anything worth having hope for humanity over and over again. What military resolution will happen is not really something for anybody to comment on.”

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor criticized Jared and Steve, stating that they "know very little about Russia and even less about Ukraine" and that their transactional statements show a total "lack of understanding of the conflict."

Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) sharply criticized Jared's push for a "win-win" scenario with Russia, calling the diplomatic mission "not just amateur hour," and adding that "the only thing they are doing is kissing Putin's a--." Similarly, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) echoed these sentiments on X, writing: "Appeasement does not work. Putin is taking advantage of the naivety and gullibility of our negotiators."