The film 20 Days in Mariupol has won the Oscar in the category of Best Documentary Feature. It is the first Ukrainian film to receive an Oscar. During his acceptance speech, the director of the film, Mstyslav Chernov, stated:
“I’ll be the first director on this stage who will say, ‘I wish I never made this film,’” Chernov said. “I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities. I wish to give it all the recognition to Russia not killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians. I wish for them to release all the hostages, all the soldiers who are protecting their lands, all the civilians who are now in their jails. 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,” he said.
Alongside Chernov, the film was worked on by photojournalist Yevhen Maloletka and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko in the occupied city of Mariupol. Producers Michelle Mizner and Renée Aronson-Rat also received awards. The film depicts the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the bombing of the maternity hospital, and the rescue of the film’s author and his colleagues from the Associated Press in the city surrounded by Russian forces.
