DENNIS BROE surveys the offerings made at Series Mania Festival
Latest editorial
Mr Zelensky Goes To Washington
DENNIS BROE looks back over the strange story of the comic actor who played president of Ukraine, only to become president of Ukraine – and asks which of his many faces represents the real Mr Zelensky
PLAYING THE ROLE: Zelensky in the comedy series Servant of the People
SCOTT ALSWORTH assesses the follow up to Disco Elysium, the first-ever genuinely Marxist videogame
GEORGE FOGARTY wallows in a celebration of music as a community practice
RITA DI SANTO listens out for the undertow of political film-making at this year’s festival
This year’s Venice Biennale marks a major shift in European cultural politics suggests CLARE CAROLIN
ANGUS REID applauds the potential of an ambitious show about Gaza, and encourages it to keep its nerve
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY has been called many things. To some he is a hero, valiant defender of a small nation against a mighty one, David to Putin’s Goliath, or a saviour, turning back an invasion by sheer willpower.
To others he is a stooge, playing at diplomacy while not actually knowing what he is doing or, worse yet, a puppet, with the US, Nato and Ukrainian oligarchs pulling his strings.
But, perhaps the more accurate characterisation of Zelensky is to take seriously what he is in actuality — an actor, one who has been called upon to play at least four roles.
Similar stories
The federal government’s plans to finance the war in Ukraine with Russian assets, and a possible deployment of German troops, put the population in Germany in the highest danger, argues SEVIM DAGDELEN
Washington plays innocent bystander while pouring weapons and intelligence into Ukraine, just as it enables the Gaza genocide — but every US escalation leaves Ukraine weaker than the neutrality deal rejected in 2022, argue MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICOLAS JS DAVIES
DENNIS BROE enjoys the political edge of a series that unmasks British imperialism, resonates with the present and has been buried by Disney
