20 Days in Mariupol

20 днів у Маріуполі

20 Days In Mariupol follows the first 20 days of the war in Ukraine, documenting the siege of Mariupol that lasted for 86 days before the city fell to the invading Russian forces. Urgent and visceral in its construction, the film is a difficult but riveting watch.

V&A Waterfront Tickets Bioscope Tickets

Awards

Cinema for Peace Awards (2023) – Nominated: Cinema for Peace Dove for The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year

Cleveland International Film Festival (2023) – Winner: Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Award

CPH:DOX (2023) – Nominated: F:ACT Award

DocAviv Film Festival (2023) – Nominated: Best International Film

Docudays UA Int'l Documentary Human Rights Film Fest (2023) – Nominated: DOCU/UKRAINE: Best Film

Docudays UA Int'l Documentary Human Rights Film Fest (2023) – Nominated: RIGHTS NOW: Best Film

Seattle International Film Festival (2023) – Nominated: Golden Space Needle Award: Best Documentary

Sundance Film Festival (2023) – Nominated: Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema – Documentary

Sundance Film Festival (2023) – Winner: Audience Award: World Cinema – Documentary

Feature

International

African Premiere

SA Premiere

Screenings – CT

V&A SK7Sat 1 July 5pm

Screenings – JHB

BioSat 1 July 5pm

Director(s):

Mstyslav Chernov

Country:

Ukraine | USA

Year:

2023

Running Time:

94 min

Language(s):

Russian, Ukrainian, English

Following the first 20 days of the war in Ukraine, this remarkable and deeply disturbing film offers a first-person account of the siege of Mariupol, which lasted for 86 days before the city fell to the invading Russian forces. Comprised of footage from a team of Ukrainian journalists who stayed behind to document the war, the documentary offers little context for the violence, instead simply depicting the rapid and wholesale destruction of a city and the lives of those who live in it. Urgent and visceral in its construction, the film is a difficult watch, intentionally so, but it is also riveting, playing out as a heartbreaking thriller in which the audience already knows the inevitable ending. The result is a terrifying document that is a testament to the utter absurdity and pointlessness of this – and all – wars.

Previous Festivals

CPH:DOX (2023)

Hot Docs (2023)

Press

A provocative, emotionally devastating work that proves just how powerful the meshing of journalistic and cinematic worlds can truly be.

— JOSHUA BRUNSTING, CriterionCast

Riveting…A strikingly immediate record of citizens under siege.

— DENNIS HARVEY, Variety

A fearless, front-line witness to history… a salute to the enduring resilience of a people who refuse to surrender their home.

— ALLAN HUNTER, Screen Daily

https://vimeo.com/

People take shelter in a youth theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 6, 2022. Still from FRONTLINE PBS and AP’s feature film “20 Days in Mariupol.” CREDIT: (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian’s army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 11, 2022. Still from FRONTLINE PBS and AP’s feature film “20 Days in Mariupol.” CREDIT: (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Photographer Evgeniy Maloletka points at the smoke rising after an airstrike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022. Still from FRONTLINE PBS and AP’s feature film “20 Days in Mariupol.” CREDIT: (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Ukrainian emergency workers and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital damaged by an airstrike in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022. The woman was taken to another hospital but did not survive. Still from FRONTLINE PBS and AP’s feature film “20 Days in Mariupol.” CREDIT: (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Photographer Evgeniy Maloletka picks his way through the aftermath of a Russian attack in Mariupol, Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022. Still from FRONTLINE PBS and AP’s feature film “20 Days in Mariupol.” CREDIT: (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Director, Mstyslav Chernov