2023 Lunenburg Doc Fest
Films
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2023
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Ukraine
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94 mins
An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war: dying children, mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and more.
After nearly a decade covering international conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war, for The Associated Press, 20 Days In Mariupol is Mstyslav Chernov’s first feature film. The film draws on Chernov’s daily news dispatches and personal footage of his own country at war. It offers a vivid, harrowing account of civilians caught in the siege, as well as a window into what it’s like to report from a conflict zone, and the impact of such journalism around the globe.
Filmmakers
Mstyslav Chernov, Director, Writer, Producer, Cinematographer
Mstyslav Chernov is a Pulitzer Prize-winning video journalist at The Associated Press and president of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers.
Since joining AP in 2014, he has covered major conflicts, social issues and environmental crises across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Most recently, Chernov documented Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Together with longtime colleague Evgeniy Maloletka, Chernov recorded the siege of Mariupol, showing the world eyewitness accounts of the Russian attacks on the city.
Chernov’s courageous reporting in Mariupol earned the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. He was named 2016 Camera Operator of the Year and 2015 Young Talent of the Year by the UK’s Royal Television Society.
He is from Eastern Ukraine and is based in Germany.