Ukraine's first Oscar: 20 Days in Mariupol wins best documentary award

In the early hours of March 11th in Los Angeles, the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, took place.

"I wish I had never made this film.  I wish to be able to exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities," said director Mstyslav Chernov from the stage. He added that he could not change history and addressed the audience: “We altogether: you. I’m calling on you, some of the most talented people in the world. We can make sure that the history record is set straight and that the truth will prevail and that the people of Mariupol and those who have given their lives will never be forgotten, because cinema forms memories and memories form history.”

Chernov, photographer Yevhen Malolietka, and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko, who worked together on the film, were among the last international journalists to leave the Ukrainian city.

The audience erupted into a standing ovation.

The film, created in cooperation with FRONTLINE, an American documentary studio, and the Associated Press, is a chronicle of the first 20 days of the full-scale invasion, told through the stories of people who witnessed and were victims of Russian atrocities. 20 Days in Mariupol shows how the Russians turned the city into ruins: bombing of a maternity hospital, shelling of residential buildings, mass graves, hiding civilians in basements, and the rescue of the authors from the besieged Mariupol. The film is accompanied by Chernov's voiceover. As the director explained in an interview, he does not express his own judgments or draw conclusions but helps the audience better understand what is happening on the screen.

For more than a year, the film about the siege of Ukrainian Mariupol has garnered 28 awards at numerous film festivals worldwide, including accolades from the International Film Festival in Cleveland, the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures in the USA, and the BAFTA award, often referred to as the British "Oscar," for Best Documentary Film.