“I wish I never made this film”: director of Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol

The eyewitness documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, shot by war reporter Mstyslav Chernov during the Russian siege of the Ukrainian city in 2022, has won an Academy Award — the first for Ukraine.

The film was made by director and photographer Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Yevhen Malolietka, and producer and journalist Vasylisa Stepanenko. They were the last journalists to stay in the besieged Ukrainian city and recorded the early stages of Russia’s destruction of Mariupol. All three of them received the Pulitzer Prize for their work. In Ukraine, they were also awarded the Shevchenko Prize in 2024.

The film has already won the Best Documentary at the British BAFTA Awards. And Mstyslav Chernov received the US Directors Guild Award (DGA Awards) for “outstanding directorial achievement in documentary filmmaking.”

20 Days in Mariupol captured Russian air strikes on hospitals and fire departments, Russian tanks shooting residential buildings, and the mass graves of people killed by Russia’s war. Russian officials dismissed the journalists’ footage as “fakes.”

In his speech on stage, Mstyslav Chernov said he wished he never would have had to make this film, and would exchange all the recognition he had for Russia never invading Ukraine.

"I wish I never made this film. I wish to give [away] all the recognition [in exchange for] Russia not killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians."

Director Mstyslav Chernov's bittersweet reaction to "20 Days in Mariupol" winning Ukraine's first Oscar.

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