The film has received critical acclaim and was named one of the top five documentary films of 2023 by the National Board of Review.[12] The film was also screened at the start of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.[13]
The film documents the twenty days Chernov spent with his colleagues during the battle of Mariupol in 2022. As the Russian invasion begins, the team of Ukrainian journalists become trapped in the besieged city and struggle to continue their work documenting the war.
Release
UK-based documentary film-distribution company Dogwoof oversees international sales rights, and will handle all worldwide sales excluding North America, where PBS Distribution has acquired rights.[14]
The film was released in selected theaters in the US on 14 July.[15] In Ukraine, public release began on 31 August.[16] Pre-premiere screenings took place in Kyiv (Bouquet Kyiv Stage 2023 festival)[17] and Lviv (NGO "Lviv Media Forum").[18] On the first weekend of September 2023, the film collected more than 530,000 грн (est. USD$15,000) at the Ukrainian box office, becoming the highest-grossing Ukrainian documentary in history.[19]
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "20 Days in Mariupol offers a grueling but vital look at the devastating impact of war."[20] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on eighteen reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[21]
Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote that "This is bleak but essential viewing," and that "this nonfiction feature may not have a simple narrative arc, but the director's unpretentious first-person narration and the intensity of the war-crimes evidence compiled make it riveting nonetheless."[22]Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that 20 Days in Mariupol "is a particularly immersive example of the genre, chronicling the weekslong siege of the titular Ukrainian city by Russian forces. [...] What comes through most vividly, other than the human tragedy on display, is the vital importance of war correspondents and the courage and ingenuity they must possess in order to work under such life-threatening conditions."[23] Randy Myers of The Mercury News gave the film 3.5/4 stars, calling it a "grim, essential piece of journalism" and "an immersive account from Ukrainian journalists at the AP who spent nearly three weeks embedded in a port city that was targeted by Russia and mercilessly attacked."[24]
Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, stating that "It goes on a short list of great documentaries that the viewer will never want to watch again.... This is a dispatch from hell on earth. The fragmented, chaotic, imprecise nature of it is a revelation."[25]
Screening controversy
In October, the film was to be shown at the Serbian Beldocs festival at the Lazarevac Cultural Center in the suburbs of Belgrade. On 10 October, far-right ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party called for the cancellation of the screening of the "anti-Russian propaganda film of the Kyiv regime", which is "an attempt by the West to change the attitude of the Serbian people towards brotherly Russia".[26] On 12 October, festival administration canceled the screening, stressing that "Beldocs is not behind this decision and did not participate in it".[27]
Accolades
20 Days in Mariupol was included in competition of the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary category. The world premiere took place at the festival in January 2023.[28] Film won Audience Award in World Cinema Documentary category.
