20 Days in Mariupol Wins Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature — First Oscar in Ukrainian History

On March 10, 2024, Mstyslav Chernov's 20 Days in Mariupol won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, becoming the first Academy Award winner in the history of Ukrainian cinema. Director Mstyslav Chernov delivered a historic acceptance speech from the Dolby Theatre stage, stating that he wished the film had never been made — that Mariupol had never been destroyed — but expressing the conviction that no army can stop the truth recorded on camera.

Director and writer Mstyslav Chernov and producers Raney Aronson-Rath, Mstyslav Chernov, Derl McCrudden, and Michelle Mizner accepted the Oscar in a moment celebrated across Ukraine as a national cultural victory.