If you missed the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Days in Mariupol when it premiered on PBS’s hard-hitting series Frontline last November, now is your chance to watch it on the big screen at Spurlock’s Museum of World Cultures at the University of Illinois.
This film hurts. Take tissues. Journalism at its best with no empty sentimentalism, the film is a day-by-day, sometimes hour-by-hour, account of the first flourishes of war as Russia launched an attack on Mariupol in Ukraine. This small group of Associated Press reporters, trapped in Mariupol as the invasion began, documented the brutality launched at homes, maternity wards in hospitals, and in the streets of the Ukrainian city.
First-time feature filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov’s Oscar speech went viral as he tearfully accepted the award for Best Documentary during the March 10th show. The film masterfully combines press footage, Chernov’s own personal footage, and daily news dispatches to provide the audience with some of the most harrowing images from the region. Watching it with an audience will be a special experience.
20 Days in Mariupol
Knight Auditorium
600 S Gregory
Urbana
M Apr 1st, 5:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public
