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Ukrainians hailed Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol, a harrowing first-person account of the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that won the Academy Award for best documentary, saying they hope it “keeps other Mariupols” from happening.
Chernov, producer and editor Michelle Mizner, and producer Raney Aronson-Rath were presented with Oscar statues on March 10 after their film, a joint production by The Associated Press and the U.S. public broadcaster PBS, won Ukraine its first-ever Academy Award.
The film, which had already won a Pulitzer Prize, depicts the carnage of the first days of Russia’s assault on the southern port city of Mariupol, which had a population of 400,000 before the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The city was reduced to rubble, with thousands of civilians dead and tens of thousands more who fled during and after a siege that ended in May 2022.
“Russia brutally attacked Mariupol over two years ago. The film 20 Days In Mariupol depicts the truth about Russian terrorism,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, adding the award “makes it possible to speak loudly about Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
The award comes as Ukrainian forces battle to repel Russian troops as the war grinds on more than two years later. Ukrainian troops made only slight gains during a much-anticipated counteroffensive last year, and with military aid and support slowing, Russia has made some incremental gains in recent weeks.
WATCH: RFE/RL spoke with Ukrainians in Kyiv to see how they felt about the country’s first Oscar win.
Meanwhile, a $60 billion aid package in the United States, Ukraine’s largest military backer, has been held up by political wrangling in Congress, where Republican lawmakers are inhibiting approval because they say they want deep changes to domestic border policy in exchange for their support.
Hours after Chernov and his co-workers took the stage to receive their Oscars, the city of Kharkiv, Chernov’s hometown that lies about 350 kilometers to the north of Mariupol, along with the port city of Odesa and the nothern city of Sumy were targeted by barrages of Russian drones and shelling.
“Probably I will be the first director on this stage to say: I wish I’d never made this film,” Chernov said as he accepted his Oscar at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
“I wish to be able to exchange this [for] Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities. I wish to give all the recognition (of winning an Oscar for) Russia not killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians. I wish for them to release all the hostages, all the soldiers who [were] protecting their land, all the civilians who are now in their jails but I cannot change history, I cannot change the past,” he said.
“But we all together, you… some of the most talented people in the world can make sure the history record is set straight and the truth will prevail and that the people of Mariupol and those who have given their lives will never be forgotten because cinema forms memories, and memories form history,” he added.
The chief of Zelenskiy’s office, Andriy Yermak, described the documentary’s Oscar win as “important,” saying it showed “the world the truth about Russia’s crimes.”
“Our film has broken the enemy’s propaganda. Justice always prevails. Many thanks to the whole team that worked on the film for reminding the whole world that the war goes on and the evil is still alive. And while it is still alive, other Mariupols may occur,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.
Andriy Alferov, a Ukrainian director and cinema expert, told Current Time that the Oscar “will definitely attract a large audience” to the documentary, thus reminding the world of the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine.
“The film will explicitly explain to the audience what is happening in Ukraine much better than any news agencies or statements by politicians, who usually are restricted by the boundaries of political correctness. In that matter, the film is not restricted by any political correctness. The camera fixes only on what is in front of it: The really shocking footage it captures. This will reveal the anatomy of the current war that is going on in Ukraine,” Alferov said.
Later during the awards ceremony, the film industry paid a brief tribute to late Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny, the subject of last year’s Oscar-winning documentary, titled Navalny.
The staunch Kremlin critic died in one of Russia’s harshest prisons in the Arctic last month.
With reporting by Current Time
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