"20 Days in Mariupol" director: There were a lot of death threats after the Oscars

The director of the documentary "20 Days in Mariupol", Mstislav Chernov, says he has received death threats. He spoke about this in his interview with "Detector Media".

"Death threats. These are the negative things. But those began right after Mariupol and haven't ceased since. They come whenever I appear in public and the media report on it. When I spoke in the European Parliament. After the Oscars, there were many death threats", said Mstyslav.

He adds that there are "other details" that he cannot disclose right now.

"Moving around is difficult, ensuring the safety of both the filming process and my loved ones is difficult, so to speak," said the filmmaker.

He explained that he did not wake up popular after the Oscars, because he has been well-known in journalistic circles for a long time.

"It's just that the film circles are only now starting to get to know me. And some people think that I am more of a reporter than a filmmaker. But we can talk about that later," the documentarist added.

"20 Days in Mariupol"

"20 Days in Mariupol" is the directorial debut of war correspondent (with experience in Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Libya, Iraq, Gaza Strip, Afghanistan), photographer, videographer and writer Mstyslav Chernov.

Photographer Yevhen Maloletka and producer, journalist Vasylisa Stepanenko also worked on the film.

Chernov, Maloletka and Stepanenko spent 20 days in Mariupol and managed to evacuate. They reported on the developments in the city as it was beseiged by Russian troops, filming the ruin caused by the shelling, the doctors working in local hospitals, the numerous civilian victims.

For their work in besieged Mariupol, they received the Pulitzer Prize, the Directors Guild of America Award and the BAFTA Award.

Mstyslav Chernov's "20 Days in Mariupol" won the Oscars award as the best feature-length documentary, becoming the first Ukrainian film to win an Oscar.

The documentary was released on Netflix on April 21, 2024.

On April 19, 2024, the documentary's crew (director Mstyslav Chernov, producer Vasylisa Stepanenko and photographer Yevhen Maloletka) brought the BAFTA and Oscars trophies to Ukraine.