Mstyslav Chernov, a filmmaker who spans the red carpet and the trenches of Ukraine: The world has never been as dangerous as it is today'

"It was like living in two worlds, and having to go from one to another in a dramatic way. From attending film festivals and walking down red carpets to crossing the Poland border and getting into the trenches, recalls Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov (Kharkiv, 40 years old) of September 2023, when he was headed from screening to screening, kicking off the race to the Oscars that he would ultimately win with his documentary 20 Days in Mariupol."

"with it, he was able to document the offensive that Ukraine launched to recover its land in Donbas, now considered the biggest counteroffensive in Europe since the Second World War. The result is 2000 Meters to Avdiivka, which can now be seen on Prime Video, and is itself an Oscar contender, after debuting at Sundance and being included on this year's 15-film shortlist for best documentary."

"In addition to reporting in his homeland on the 2013 Euromaidan protests and being the first to arrive at the remains of the Malyasia Airlines flight downed by Russia in 2014 on his third day working for the Associated Press, he would come to cover a range of martial and humanitarian conflicts with the agency. For his work in Mariupol, which told of his stay in the city while it was under seige by Russian forces, Chernov and three other AP colleagues won a Pulitzer."

Mstyslav Chernov shifted between film festivals and frontline trenches in September 2023, moving from screenings to embedding with a Ukrainian platoon. He documented Ukraine's offensive to recover territory in Donbas and produced 2000 Meters to Avdiivka, which premiered at Sundance, streams on Prime Video, and joined the Oscar documentary shortlist. Chernov previously covered Euromaidan and the 2014 Malaysia Airlines crash for the Associated Press and earned a Pulitzer for reporting from besieged Mariupol. He compiled roughly 30 hours of Mariupol footage into the Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol and maintains a focused, urgent reporting style.

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