Kyril, aged 18 months, struggles for his life after a Russian rocket hits the family’s apartment block in the early days of the siege of Mariupol, Ukraine, in March 2022. In vain, his mother pleads “You couldn’t save him?” to the also tearful doctor. Then, in disbelief, “How?” She weeps over the tiny, swaddled corpse, opens the covering briefly to kiss her son’s head a last time, then covers it up again.
This is just one scene from what feels like a cinematic siege of the soul: 20 Days in Mariupol by the Associated Press Ukrainian cameraman and now director Mstyslav Chernov. The film premiered at the Docudays UA international human rights documentary film festival in Kyiv last weekend and won the main prize at a ceremony temporarily adjourned – after an air-raid alert – to a metro subway shelter. The first UK screening will be at Sheffield DocFest on Wednesday.
