Ukrainian film 20 Days in Mariupol nominated for 2024 Oscars

The nominees for the 2024 Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles on Twitter (X) on Jan. 23, with the Ukrainian documentary film 20 Days in Mariupol among them.

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Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov’s documentary was nominated for the 2024 Oscars in the Best Documentary Feature Film category.

"20 Days in Mariupol" recounts the brutal siege of Mariupol by Russian forces in February and March 2022. Produced by Ukrainian journalists, including Associated Press video operator Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Evhen Maloletka, and producer Vasylisa Stepanenko, the team remained in the city under Russian occupation, capturing the horrors of the invasion, from tanks shelling houses to the killing of civilians, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and mass graves. Despite being hunted by Russian troops, they managed to leave the city through a green corridor, taking all the footage with them.

The film premiered internationally at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023, winning the Audience Award. Its Ukrainian premiere occurred at the Docudays UA festival in Kyiv, followed by a release in Ukrainian cinemas in August 2023, where it became the highest-grossing Ukrainian documentary film of all time in its opening weekend.

Read also: Directors Guild of America nominates Mstyslav Chernov’s ’20 days in Mariupol’ for awards

"20 Days in Mariupol" also received two BAFTA nominations for Best Documentary Feature Film and Best Film Not in the English Language. Director Mstyslav Chernov earned a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing in Documentary.

This marks the third Oscars nomination for a Ukrainian film. The first nominee was "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom" in 2016, co-produced by Ukraine, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The second was "The House Made of Splinters" in 2023, co-produced by Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Ukraine.

The 96th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for the night of March 10-11 in Los Angeles.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine