Documentary Film: 20 Days in Mariupol

An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion.

As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war: dying children, mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and more.

After nearly a decade covering international conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war, for The Associated Press, 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL is Mstyslav Chernov’s first feature film. The film draws on Chernov’s daily news dispatches and personal footage of his own country at war. It offers a vivid, harrowing account of civilians caught in the siege, as well as a window into what it’s like to report from a conflict zone, and the
impact of such journalism around the globe.

Note: Behind the film remains another crucial thing: the AP group recorded what was happening in Mariupol for the first 20 days. But it got worse later. It became scarier. The city was under siege for 86 days, and the Russian army turned it into a gigantic mass grave. The number of casualties in Mariupol is in the tens of thousands. But this is not in the film.