The FRONTLINE investigative journalism platform released the trailer for Mstyslav Chernov’s documentary ‘20 Days in Mariupol’, filmed during the first days of russia’s blockade of Mariupol. On June 8, the film won in the Docudays UA national competition of feature-length films. The film also won the Audience Award
20 Days in Mariupol’ tells about the russian attack on the city on February 24, 2022, the bombing of residential quarters and a maternity hospital, the people who lived and worked under the blockade of the city and how Chernov and his colleagues, photographer Yevhen Maloletka and journalist Vasylisa Stepanenko, managed to escape from the city surrounded by russian occupiers.
Mstyslav Chernov made all the footage during his 20 days in Mariupol. According to the videographer, he has been covering military conflicts for nine years, but ‘this film is a personal story’ because ‘it is the story of the community, our community, our people’.
In January 2023, ‘20 Days in Mariupol’ won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. The film participated in the competition program of world documentary films.
Ukrainian video director Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Yevhen Maloletka and journalist Vasylisa Stepanenko were the only journalists who covered events in Mariupol surrounded by russian troops during the first 20 days of the attack on the city. They arrived there an hour before the war at 3:30 a.m. and during that time they witnessed war crimes, air strikes, and atrocities committed by the russians against civilians.
On June 20, 2022, Maloletka and Chernov received the Freedom of Speech Award from the German media company Deutsche Welle. In December, they received the RSF Press Freedom Award in the Influence category.
In May 2023, Chernov, Stepanenko, and Maloletka, along with the American journalist Lori Hinnant, who supervised their work, received the Pulitzer Prize.
Congratulations to @AP, @mstyslav9, @EMaloletka, @VasilisaUKR and @lhinnant. #Pulitzer pic.twitter.com/0CnT3UI1p0
— The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrizes) May 8, 2023
They and their news agency, The Associated Press, received the award in the Public Service nomination.
