20 Days in Mariupol

**By: Louisa Moore / www.ScreenZealots.com** “20 Days in Mariupol” is one of the most painful films I have ever watched: it is also one of the most important. This stunning documentary not only gives a chilling firsthand view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it captures actual war crimes. Due to its strategic location, Mariupol has become one of the most important regions in the war. On the ...

Considering the searing nature of this troubling documentary, I feel somewhat uneasy in recommending it as must-see viewing. Nevertheless, this is one of those films that has to be seen in order for the truth behind its story to be fully realized. When Ukrainian journalist-writer-director Mstyslav Chernov and two colleagues chronicled the first days of the nation’s brutal conflict with Russia, the...

This is quite an harrowing documentary following a camera crew who secret themselves in a makeshift hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol as the Russian military advances. What starts on day one as a largely intact and functioning urban area is gradually reduced to rubble as the invading forces bombard the place from the ground and the air slowly terrorising the populace and removing their ac...