A new documentary about the first days of Russia’s invasion of Mariupol, Ukraine, will premiere at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto, Canada on Saturday.
is a journalist for the Associated Press, 20 days in Mariupoland two colleagues, shot graphic footage of civilian deaths, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and the beginning of war in a port city in eastern Ukraine.
“We’re Ukrainians, we’re journalists, and we felt it was our duty to stay and keep reporting as long as we could,” Chernov told CTV’s Your Morning on Friday. .
At that time, Chernov and his colleagues Foreign journalists only in Mariupol.
Chernov and Associated Press journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko and Evgeny Malloretka collected and shared reports and videos of the invasion seen around the world, including footage of pregnant women stretched out on stretchers from bombed maternity hospitals. Chernov believes their reports influenced the international assistance and assistance Ukraine received in the first days of the war.
In Russia, their footage was claimed to be propaganda, Chernov told Your Morning. [had] To keep shooting … and we did all this not because Russia said we were actors, but because it was important to keep showing what was going on [the Ukrainian] people. “
Earlier this year, Chernov and his colleagues won the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. International Press Freedom Award For reports in Mariupol.
20 days in Mariupol TIFF Bell Lightbox Theater Saturday at 2:45 pm EST in Toronto. The film will be available to stream on his website on Hot Docs from May 5th through his May 9th.
