Initially, the movie was awarded cut from the shortened international TV version — as explained by Disney «due to time constraints».
Due to the time difference between the US and Europe (in Ukraine, the full version could be watched only at 1 a.m.), the Academy sends out a 90-minute international version (usually with 12-15 categories instead of 23) so that viewers can watch the ceremony in prime time. At the same time, when Suspilne (the official broadcaster of the «Oscars» in Ukraine) received the video, it turned out that the category «Best Documentary», where won The Ukrainian film «20 Days in Mariupol» is absent — as is the powerful speech by director Mstislav Chernov.
Disney claimed that the list of categories for the shortened version was chosen in advance, and all the missed winners were presented in the «summary».
«Last year, the documentary category was included in the 90-minute international version, as was a political speech by Yulia Navalnaya. I don’t really believe that Disney is planning the script without taking into account the winners’ predictions — it doesn’t sound convincing for a highly effective show. «20 Days in Mariupol» — is not only an outstanding documentary, it is a unique testimony of Russian crimes, and the whole team risked their lives to make it», — said Lukyan Galkin, executive producer of Suspilne Kultura TV channel, in a commentary Deadline.
The National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine also sent a strong statement to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Chairman of the Board Mark Parker:
«Today, all democracies in the world are looking for any opportunity to resist military aggression that threatens peace. And your employees decide to remove the segment with the awarding of a prize to journalists for a full-length documentary film that tells about the horrors of war… We find it hard to believe that this decision of the studio’s employees was a politically motivated decision agreed upon by the company’s management».
As Deadline notes, the Academy eventually agreed to update the shortened international TV version and send it to global licensees (not just Public Broadcasting).
«20 days in Mariupol» — the first Ukrainian film in the history of Ukraine to won «Oscar» in one of the main nominations. The film tells the story of the siege of Mariupol in February-March 2022 — the Associated Press team, who were the last journalists in the city at the time, documented the siege and the humanitarian catastrophe it caused, the work of doctors, the bombing of a maternity hospital, mass graves of dead civilians, and other crimes committed by Russians. The film was produced by director Mstislav Chernov, photographer Yevhen Malolietka, and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko, all three of whom won Pulitzer Prizes.
«I’ll probably be the first director on this stage to say I wish I had never made this movie. If only I could stop it — if only Russia would never attack Ukraine, never occupy our cities. I would give everything to stop Russia from killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians. I would like to see all hostages, all soldiers defending their lands and all imprisoned civilians released,» said Mstislav Chernov, the film’s director, during his speech at the «Oscars.
«20 days in Mariupol» also became the highest grossing documentary film in Ukraine with a box office of 2.2 million hryvnias to date. After winning the award, Chernov’s film was returned to Ukrainian distribution, and it is also due to appear soon on such platforms as «Kyivstar TV», sweet.tv, Megogo, Takflix, and Volia TV.
Abroad, «20 Days in Mariupol» is available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. It is also available on Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV and other digital platforms.