The film is an unflinching first-person view of the early days of Russia’s invasion of Mariupol from the perspective of Ukrainian-born director and AP video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, who, along with AP colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko, were the only international journalists to remain in the city.
“Despite extremely challenging and deeply personal circumstances, AP’s Mariupol team offered the world an essential window into the Russia-Ukraine war as it was beginning to unfold,” said AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace. “That the Academy has chosen to recognize ’20 Days in Mariupol’ is a testament to the power of eyewitness journalism and the bravery of the journalists on the ground. We are incredibly proud of Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko and the entire ‘20 Days in Mariupol’ team.”
The film was directed, written and produced by Chernov, and produced and edited by Frontline’s Michelle Mizner, alongside producers Raney Aronson-Rath, Frontline’s editor in chief and executive producer, and Derl McCrudden, AP vice president and head of global news production.
The documentary made its world premiere in January 2023 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition Audience Award. It has since received two BAFTA Film Award nominations, two Critics Choice Documentary Awards, a Cinema Eye Honors Award, a duPont-Columbia Award nomination, and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)’s NPO Audience Award.
The AP team’s reporting on which the film is based earned the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, along with dozens of awards.
This is the AP’s first Academy Award nomination.
Winners will be announced March 10 in Los Angeles.
Read the AP news story.
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