Awarding ceremony for "20 Days in Mariupol" was cut from international TV version of "Oscar" - Suspilne
The organisers cut the "Best Feature Documentary" category, which was won by "20 Days in Mariupol" by Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov, from the shortened international TV version of the 96th Academy Awards.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by Suspilne Broadcasting.
This year, Suspilne Culture was the exclusive broadcaster of the ceremony for the second time. On the night of 10-11 March, Suspilne Culture broadcast the award ceremony live.
Today, on 11 March, at 20:30, the international short version was scheduled to be broadcast on Suspilne Culture TV channel. However, after receiving the materials for the broadcast from the organisers, the team discovered that there were no awards for Ukrainian documentary filmmakers.
The Suspilne team has expressed its indignation at the organisers of this year's Walt Disney Company Limited Awards. Instead of the shortened version, Suspilne Culture will show the full version for Ukrainian viewers, which was broadcast live on the night of 11 March. The broadcast is also available on the Suspilne Culture website.
"Our team was shocked and deeply disappointed when we did not see the nomination for 'Best Feature Documentary' in the international version, where '20 Days in Mariupol' was rightfully awarded. " Mstyslav Chernov's powerful speech underlined the unity between Ukraine and the world, and it is all the more disappointing to see this episode full of truth and power excluded from the version distributed to the global 'Oscar' licensees," said Lukian Galkin, executive producer of Suspilne Culture TV channel.
Suspilne reminded that last year, the same nomination, in which a documentary about Navalny won, was given a shortened version, as well as a political speech by his wife Yulia Navalnaya, who accepted this seemingly apolitical award.
The 96th Academy Awards took place last night in Los Angeles. The film "20 Days in Mariupol" won in the "Best Feature Documentary" category.
About the film 20 Days in Mariupol
"20 Days in Mariupol is a documentary by Associated Press journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Mstyslav Chernov.
Together with photographer Yevhen Maloletka and colleagues from AP, the director arrived in Mariupol a few hours before the first bombs fell on the city. Very quickly, the film crew became the only representatives of the international media in Mariupol. They recorded Russian crimes, shelling of civilian neighbourhoods, a hospital, a fire station, and a maternity hospital.
The world premiere took place on 20 January at the major independent film festival Sundance. The film was nominated in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Chernov's film won the Audience Award.
"20 Days in Mariupol" won the "Oscar" for Best Feature Documentary, the first time Ukraine has won the award. In his acceptance speech, Chernov said that he wished he had not had to make the film so that Russia would not have attacked Ukraine.
The film was made by director and photographer Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Yevhen Maloletka, and producer and journalist Vasylisa Stepanenko. They were the last journalists to cover the beginning of Russia's destruction of Mariupol, and all three of them won the Pulitzer Prize for this. They were also awarded the Shevchenko Prize in 2024.
