Underplayed Gems

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

20 Days in Mariupol poster
Directed by
Mstyslav Chernov
Genre
documentary film, war film
Country
Ukraine, United States
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
NR
Rating
8.1 of 10 from 296 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary shows the first weeks of the Russian siege of Mariupol through the eyes of Ukrainian journalists trapped inside the city. It captures the escalating chaos, civilian suffering, and the journalists' struggle to document the war as it unfolds around them.

rawurgentharrowingunflinchingintimatefreneticdesperateeye-opening

What happens

20 Days in Mariupol (Ukrainian: «20 днів у Маріуполі», romanized: 20 dniv u Mariupoli) is a 2023 Ukrainian documentary film with footage from the first several weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine directed by Mstyslav Chernov. The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition. The film has received critical acclaim and was named one of the top five documentary films of 2023 by the National Board of Review. It was selected as the Ukrainian submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, but it was instead nominated in the Best Documentary Feature Film category and went on to win the award. The film was also nominated for two BAFTAs and won one of them, also won a Directors Guild of America Award and Ukrainian National Film Academy Award. The film was screened at the start of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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