Your 20 Days in Mariupol
What we can learn from the Oskar-winning documentary film about Russian invasion in Ukraine?
The Oscar for ‘20 Days in Mariupol’ documentary film by Mstyslav Chernov and Associated Press team could become a story of inspiration for journalists. Because this film wasn’t shot as a documentary - it is news, wrapped in the format of a documentary. This film was the daily work of three brave, talented young Ukrainian journalists in the midst of a full-scale Russian invasion of their home country. And the Oscar should have celebrated the victory of journalism over propaganda. But this is a bitter victory.
It is also a cautionary tale. When journalism becomes work bordering on heroism; when a journalist risks his or her life to bring the truth to the audience, - it means that truth as a concept, as one of the foundations of human existence, is threatened with destruction in the literal sense of the word.
It was Mariupol and the scale and methods with which the Russian army destroyed it in the first days of the invasion that showed that truth is a military goal. That striving for the truth is dangerous for life. The film made by Mstyslav Chernov is proof of this thesis. And the fact that he and the Associate Press team Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko survived and were able to leave the besieged city is an exception. They could escape mostly because people around them shared the value of the truth so much that they risked their lives for the sake of journalists.
Unfortunately, this rarely happens. The further, the more often journalists are attacked - both physically and online - in order to take away their voice, to silence them. Because the truth is dangerous for those who commit crimes.
It is precisely because the truth became a weapon so many journalists died in Ukraine in 2022 and in the Gaza Strip in 2023-24. Even more simply left the profession because they could not stand the pressure - or went to serve in the army.
There will be no change for the better until the truth is restored to its basic meaning and right to defense. As long as the destruction of civilians in cities remains only a picture on TV or Twitter, and as long as the denial of facts is not only unpunished, but also encouraged - by the management of social networks, media owners, ineffective laws - the regimes will continue to fight and kill civilians, will destroy free press and everyone who stands for the truth.
There is a saying that every photographer wants to take a photo that would stop a war. The footage from Mariupol did not stop the war, despite the fact that evidence of the killings and destruction of the city flew around the world every day, as long as the AP agency team could work on the ground. The world saw, the world was horrified, but continued watching.
I think that this Oscar can be the beginning of healing the world from despair and the formation of a new policy in relation to the truth. Mstyslav Chernov proved that we should fight for the truth - and that truth in the end can win.
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Stay tuned,
Katerina Sergatskova