20 Days in Mariupol

This harrowing documentary follows a group of war correspondents in the besieged city of Mariupol in south-east Ukraine. It starts as the Russian invasion gets underway and creeps towards devastation as the frontline gets ever closer. It's an extremely tough watch. The writer/director, Mstyslav Chernov, doesn't shy away from showing us children dead from shelling, parents absolutely bereft from grief, and the complete loss of hope that's riddled through the doctors and nurses.

It almost feels redundant to talk about technique here but this film holds a straightforward doco structure that opens with a hint of the 'big moment', then a diary style unfolds (the 20 days), before returning to the beginning to show us how it all panned out. That focal point is an impending attack on a hospital that the crew are holed up in, followed by a frantic dash to find a Red Cross convoy rumoured to be leaving the city.

Some of the most striking detail in the film is that if you've kept an eye on the conflict, you've likely seen some of the footage, as these guys are responsible for much of the vision that found its way out of the war zone. One bit that sparked a memory for me was the attack on a maternity hospital that the Russians claimed was set up by actors and influencers. 

The film is not quite as one-sided as it could (or maybe even should) be. We see residents looting shops and being reprimanded by store owners and soldiers. At one point, a group of desperate folk round on the film crew, suggesting the Ukraine military is bombing them. 

As the end credits started to roll in the Luna cinema there was a shout of "Slavia Ukraina!" from the back, followed by a round of applause. As this stage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its second year, this film is timely reminder that the 'status quo' is a horrific place. The Oscar nomination for best doco might bring more exposure.

20 Days in Mariupol is an incredible document of a murky moment in history. A tough watch but a vitally important film.

*This screening was organised by DocPlay, where 20 Days in Mariupol can be seen from March 7th 2024.

See also:

More recent Putin infamy seeps through the excellent doco, Navalny (2022), directed by Daniel Roher. Gillo Pontecorvo's seminal war film, The Battle of Algiers (1966) shows that bombing civilians is nothing new.