Mstislav Chernov, founder of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, director, and journalist, triumphed at this year's Docudays UA festival. His new film, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, received three awards: the grand prize of the Docu/World international program, the grand prize of the Rights Now! section, and the Audience Choice Award.
Docudays UA is an annual documentary film festival on human rights held in Kyiv. Its goal is to create an open dialogue about war, dignity, human rights, and transformations in Ukrainian society. In 2025, the event took place from June 6 to 13.
New film about the liberation of Andriivka
2000 Meters to Andriivka transports viewers to the front lines — to the epicenter of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the east. The film documents the liberation of the village of Andriivka near Bakhmut by the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade in 2023. It was there, meter by meter, under fire, that the Ukrainian military regained the occupied land, and it was there that Mstislav Chernov came with his camera — not as an outside observer, but as a companion to the soldiers.
The film shows not only the combat operation, but also the personal stories of the fighters. Unfortunately, many of them did not live to see the completion of filming. They joke, share their dreams, reminisce about peaceful life — and gradually disappear from the scene, from life, leaving behind only video evidence.
“We tried to show the war in a way that no one has shown it before. The combination of journalism and cinema creates a unique immersive effect. The viewer should feel like they are there, on the front lines, together with the soldiers,” says Mstislav Chernov.
The journalist worked on the project together with his colleague and Associated Press photographer Oleksandr Babenko. The soundtrack was written by composer and producer Sam Slater, who won a Grammy for his music for the series Chernobyl and the film Joker.
This is Chernov's second film about Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. His previous work, 20 Days in Mariupol, based on reports from Mariupol, which was surrounded by Russian troops, won an Oscar in 2024. “2000 Meters to Andriivka” is also a joint project between AP and PBS Frontline, but it is more intimate, permeated by the author's presence within the events.
Docudays UA 2025 winners: in brief
In addition to Chernov's triumph, the festival also honored:
- Songs of the Slowly Burning Land (Olga Zhurba) — Grand Prize, Docu/Ukraine
- “Dust Is a Whale, It Is Sunlight” (María Casas Castillo) — winner of Docu/Short
- Militantropus (Alina Gorlova et al.) — award from film critics
- Special mentions: “With Love from the Front” (Alisa Kovalenko), “Letters to Havi” (Najiba and Rasul Nuri), “On the Holy and the Sinful” (Giedre Beinorute)
Docudays UA once again emphasizes that documentary cinema is not only a way of recording events, but also an act of resistance, memory, and empathy. And in 2025, its voice once again became the voice of war, peace, loss, and hope.
Mstislav Chernov is a Ukrainian photographer, Associated Press journalist, director, war correspondent, president of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, honorary member of Ukrainian PEN, and writer. He covered the Revolution of Dignity, the war in eastern Ukraine, the aftermath of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the Syrian civil war, the battles of Mosul in Iraq, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including the blockade of Mariupol. For this work, he received the Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award, the Georgiy Gongadze Award, the Knight International Journalism Awards, the Biagio Agnes Award, the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award, the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award, and the Free Media Awards. At the end of 2022, he was included in the rankings of “People of NV 2022 in the Year of War” and “14 Songs, Photos, and Art Objects That Became Symbols of Ukrainian Resistance” by Forbes Ukraine, and his video footage from Mariupol became the basis for the film “20 Days in Mariupol,” which in 2024 became the first Ukrainian film in history to win an Oscar.
Photographer's social media accounts: Facebook Instagram
Contributors:
Researcher, author of the text: Vira Labych
Image editor: Olga Kovalova
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladislav Kukhar
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