The film 20 Days in Mariupol wins an award in the Netherlands

The documentary film 20 Days in Mariupol by Mstislav Chernov won the Best Feature Documentary category at the Septimius Awards in the Netherlands.

This was reported on the award’s official website. According to Ukrinform, producer Vasilisa Stepanenko appeared on stage with Anastasia. She is the woman who was pregnant in a Mariupol maternity hospital during the bombing.

«It’s a huge honor to be on stage today, and it’s a huge honor to be on stage with this family. Anastasia was pregnant with her son when the Russians bombed the maternity hospital. Today, he is almost three years old, just like the war. The full-scale invasion continues. Now the Netherlands has become a temporary home for them… I came here from Ukraine, and tomorrow I will return to continue reporting and telling these important stories. Thanks to you and your films, we can tell these important stories, and these people will have their voices heard», — Stepanenko said on stage after the award ceremony.

Vasilisa Stepanenko worked with director Mstislav Chernov in Mariupol, which was surrounded by Russian forces in 2022.

The first Oscar awarded to the creators of a Ukrainian film

As a reminder, the Ukrainian film 20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov won an Oscar for Best Feature Documentary.

«I wish I had never made this film. I would like to exchange this Oscar for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities, for Russians not killing tens of thousands of my fellow citizens», — Chernov said on stage, where he was joined by photojournalist Yevhen Malolietka and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko, who worked with him in besieged Mariupol in 2022.

«I would like them to release all the hostages, all the soldiers who defended their land, all the civilians they keep in their prisons. But I cannot change history and the past. But we all together, you and I, some of the most talented people in the world, can ensure that history is corrected, that the truth prevails, and that the dead of Mariupol and those who gave their lives are never forgotten, because cinema shapes memories, and memories shape history.»

Along with Chernov, film producers Michelle Mizner and Reni Aronson-Rath received the awards.

However, the category in which 20 Days in Mariupol won was later cut from the shortened international TV version of the Oscars.

Representatives of Disney Entertainment cited time constraints as the primary reason for the short version of the show. The company stated that certain categories and parts of the show could not be included in the 90-minute version for the international audience due to these limitations. The selection of nominations for the shortened version was determined in advance during the planning process several weeks prior.