"20 Days in Mariupol" by Mstislav Chernov won the Oscar in 2024 in the category of "Best Documentary Feature Film." This is the first cinema award for Ukraine in the entire history of the ceremony.
This was reported by Entertainment Tonight, citing the broadcast of the awards ceremony.
During his speech, Chernov said that he "wished this film had never had to be made."
"I would exchange this statuette so that Russia never attacked our cities, never killed tens of thousands of our citizens... Together, we must do everything to end this war," he said.
"Thank you all. Glory to Ukraine!" the director added.
Facts about the film "20 Days in Mariupol":
This is a documentary film by Ukrainian military correspondent, writer, and videographer Mstislav Chernov about the Russian siege of Mariupol in February-March 2022 during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.
The film was created in 2023 in collaboration between Associated Press and Frontline.
Its premiere took place on January 21, 2023, at the largest independent film festival in the United States, Sundance, where it entered the competitive program "World Documentary Cinema" and won the Audience Award.
The film received the BAFTA award in the category of "Best Documentary Film" and was nominated for "Best Foreign Language Film". It also won the Directors Guild of America award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary".
Overall, by January 2024, it had received over 20 awards and 40 nominations.
The film became the highest-grossing Ukrainian documentary film.
