Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol, a harrowing first-person account of the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, won the best documentary Oscar on March 10. A production of AP and PBS, statuettes were awarded to Chernov, producer and editor Michelle Mizner, and producer Raney Aronson-Rath. The Oscar was a first for Chernov, an AP video journalist, and the 178-year-old news organization.
“This is the first Oscar in Ukrainian history, and I’m honored,” Chernov said. “Probably, I will be the first director on this stage to say I wish I’d never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine.”
There was also a brief tribute paid to the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, the subject of last year’s Oscar-winning documentary, Navalny.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist captured the first three weeks of the deadly siege of the devastated Ukrainian port city for his Oscar-winning documentary. The strategic offensive, which lasted from February to May 2022, killed at least 8,000 people at the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A new 200-page report detailing the events captured by “20 Days in Mariupol” spurred Human Rights Watch to call for further criminal prosecutions just last month. Attacks were waged in schools, hospitals, and other civilian sites; many surviving families are still searching for relatives.
