The documentary film “2000 Meters to Andriivka” by director, journalist, and founder of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers Mstyslav Chernov became the official Ukrainian contender in the “Best International Feature Film” category at the 98th Academy Awards.
This is Mstyslav Chernov's second film nominated for the highest film award from Ukraine; the first was the documentary film “20 Days in Mariupol” in 2024, which won the award in the “Best Documentary Feature Film” category.
Announcing its decision to nominate Chernov's film “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” the Ukrainian Oscar Committee emphasized the film's significance: “This is an uncompromisingly honest and piercing documentary work that plunges into the reality of the Russian-Ukrainian war through human experience — fragile, exhausting, and at the same time full of dignity. This Ukrainian film must become even more visible in the world, as it speaks on behalf of those who defend freedom and the right to life every day.”
Mstyslav Chernov, commenting on the news of the selection, stressed the responsibility placed on Ukrainian documentarians during difficult times for the country:
“It is an honor for us to represent Ukraine in the “Best International Feature Film” category at the Academy Awards. We will do everything possible to ensure the voices of Ukraine and Ukrainian service members are heard. This seems particularly important now, as a massive shelling of Kyiv occurred this very morning. I receive the news of the selection while filming how civilian bodies are being recovered from under the rubble. And this places even greater responsibility on us—documentarians and artists—to speak to the world, to shout to it about what is happening, even when it seems futile.”
The shortlist of 15 films in the “Best International Feature Film” category will be announced on December 16, 2025. The world will learn the final five nominees on January 22, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 15, 2026.
New Film about the Liberation of Andriivka
“2000 Meters to Andriivka” transports the viewer to the front line—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 September 2023. Meter by meter, under constant shelling, Ukrainian soldiers reclaimed occupied land, and that is where Mstyslav Chernov went with his camera—not as an outside observer, but as a companion to the soldiers.
The film shows not only the course of the combat operation but also the personal stories of the fighters. They joke, share dreams, recall peaceful life—and at the same time gradually disappear from the scene, dying on the front and leaving behind only video testimonies. Chernov worked on the project together with his colleague—photographer Oleksandr Babenko. The soundtrack was written by composer and producer Sam Slater, a Grammy winner for the music in the series “Chernobyl” and the film “Joker.”
If the Oscar-winning film “20 Days in Mariupol” was a large-scale testimony to a war crime, “2000 Meters to Andriivka” is more intimate, permeated by the author's presence among those who are fighting. Like the previous film, the new one was created in partnership with AP and PBS Frontline.
Recognition and Premieres
The world premiere of “2000 Meters to Andriivka” took place at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025. There, the film won the award for Best Director in the “World Cinema Documentary” category. The Ukrainian premiere took place at Docudays UA, where the film won immediately in three nominations. The official Ukrainian theatrical release began on August 28, 2025—“2000 Meters to Andriivka” can now be viewed in cinemas across the country.
Mstyslav Chernov — 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 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 777, the Syrian Civil War, the battles for 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 Heorhiy Gongadze Prize, the Knight International Journalism Awards, the Biagio Agnes Award, the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award, the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award, and the Free Media Awards. By the end of 2022, he was included in the ratings “NV People 2022 in the Year of War” and “14 Songs, Photos, and Art Objects that Became Symbols of Ukrainian Resistance” by “Forbes Ukraine,” and the video materials from Mariupol formed the basis of the film “20 Days in Mariupol,” which in 2024 was awarded the Academy Award for the first time in the history of Ukrainian cinematography.
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