‘20 Days in Mariupol’ wins best Oscar documentary, country’s 1st win
Mstyslav Chernov may be the first and only Oscar-winning director who wishes he had never made the film that won him Hollywood’s biggest award.
The Ukranian director won the Academy Award for best documentary on Sunday for “20 Days in Mariupol,” a gut-wrenching film that depicts a team of Associated Press journalists who continue to document the Russian invasion of Ukraine despite overwhelming peril.
It marks the first Oscar win for Ukraine, which gained independence from Russia in 1991.
“Probably I will be the first director on this stage who will say I wish I’ve never made this,” a somber Chernov said on the Oscars stage. “I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities, I wish to give all the recognition to Russia not killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians, I wish for them to release all the hostages, all the soldiers who are protecting their lands, all the civilians who are now in their jails.”
When he came to speak to a room of reporters backstage, Chernov wanted to remind the world of a terrible anniversary and just how important cinema is even in the face of sorrow and survival.
Anniversary of a tragedy
Chernov’s Oscar win comes the day after the two-year anniversary of the March 9, 2022, attack on a maternity hospital in the Ukranian city of Mariupol, killing four people and becoming a symbol of some of the worst of Russia’s atrocities.
Backstage at the Oscars, Chernov said that “it’s a significant moment, it’s a symbolic moment, and that moment became the symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Right now, unfortunately, Ukraine and the topic of support in Ukraine became a symbolic bargaining chip for a lot of the politicians in the world,” he continued. “I hope I remind everyone
with our film that this is a human catastrophe and this is not a political question. It’s a human emergency.”
The responsibility of filmmakers
Asked about the importance of Ukraine’s first Oscar win and the significance that it was for “20 Days in Mariupol,” Chernov said that it’s “quite appropriate” but that he looks forward to the day when war is in the past and
his country can win for art.
“Children in Ukraine, adults, civilians, everyone when they are fighting, when they are hiding in basements, when bombs fall, they watch cinema,” he said. “They escape in a different world, so there they stay sane and they can survive through this horrifying event. Even lighthearted films help humans get through probably the hardest time in many, many years.”