20 Days in Mariupol



20 DAYS in Mariupol

A FILM BY PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING

UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST MSTYSLAV CHERNOV

Academy Award Winner:  Best Documentary Feature Film

📆 Tuesday, April 23, 2023
🕝 10:00 and 18:00
📍 American Corner Trieste / Associazione Italo Americana FVG - Piazza Sant'Antonio Nuovo, 6 - Trieste - Italy
🆓 Entrance free of charge
🗣️ Original Audio Languages: Ukrainian / Russian / English
Subtitles: English


ABOUT THE FILM

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.


20 Days in Mariupol

Academy Award Acceptance Speech – Best Documentary Feature Film

Director:  Mstyslav Chernov

March 10, 2024

"This is the first Oscar in the history of Ukraine. I'm grateful, it's an honor for me, but I'll probably be the first director on this stage to say: "I didn't want to make this movie.”

I would like to be able to exchange this Oscar for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities, for Russians not killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainian citizens.

I would give it up to have them release all the hostages, the soldiers who defended our land, the civilians in their prisons. But I can't change history, I can't change the past, but we are all together, you and I.

We are among the most talented people in the world. We can make sure that history is corrected, that the truth prevails. And so that the people of Mariupol who died and those who gave their lives will never be forgotten, because cinema shapes memories, and memories shape history,"

"Glory to Ukraine!" Slava Ucraina

"Sono profondamente commosso. Potrei essere l'unico regista nella storia a esprimere il desiderio di non aver mai realizzato il proprio film.

Avrei voluto poter scambiare questo premio con la certezza che la Russia non avesse mai invaso il nostro paese, non avesse occupato le nostre città, non avesse ucciso decine di miglia di cittadini ucraini.

Vorrei appellarmi ai russi affinché liberino tutti gli ostaggi catturati, i soldati che hanno difeso nostro paese, i cittadini che si trovano nei loro prigioni.

Non è nel mio potere modificare quanto già accaduto - Tuttavia, insieme, io, voi, noi tutti, possiamo assicurarci che questa trama venga corretta e che la verità emerga. Che coloro che hanno sacrificato le loro vite non vengano mai dimenticati.

Il cinema ha il potere di forgiare ricordi, e i ricordi a loro volta forgiano la storia."

SLAVA UCRAINA