Documentary film director Mstyslav Chernov, who together with his team won Ukraine’s first Oscar for the documentary 20 Days in Mariupol last year, visited Kyiv, this time around to present his second full-length film 2000 Meters to Andriivka on the day of its official domestic release. The film saw its world premiere last January as part of the American Independent Film Festival Sundance. At that time, Mstyslav Chernov, a native of Kharkiv, won Sundance Grand Jury Prize - World Documentary for best directorial work.
2000 Meters to Andriyivka, depicting the reconquest of every centimeter of Ukrainian land near Bakhmut from Russian invaders, was shown in Kyiv in the competition program of the International Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights Docudays UA in early June, where it won the grand prize and two other awards in the nomination “Docu/World”. The film received highly positive reviews in Denmark, Great Britain, Israel, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
The film features meter-by-meter footage of the Ukrainian counterassault in 2023. The courage and painful losses of one unit are scaled in the minds of the audience into a deep temporal immersion in the largest military operation in Europe since World War II - the Russian-Ukrainian one. Ukrainian fighters with the call signs Gagarin, Hector, Moroz, Kobzar, and others are under a barrage of enemy fire almost every second: someone sustains wounds, four fighters from the unit died in battle in a matter of few months. However, this is a story about the path to victory over the attacker.
Perhaps the most important words that sound from the screen are: "Come on, brother, get up! Live!" But also irreparably painful: "The impeccable taste in death is that it is choosing the best from among us...".
In August 2025, the Ukrainian Oscar Committee received eight applications for the national selection for the 98th Academy Awards in the "Best International Feature Film" category, the most prestigious award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts. The films submitted include 2000 Meters to Andriivka, directed by Mstyslav Chernov.
Ukrinform invited Mr. Chernov for an interview about the art of filming and his directorial ambitions, about new films and Kharkiv as a city from which to jump to Oscar glory, about the Pulitzer Prize and the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine he has won so far.
WHEN FILMS ABOUT KHARKIV AND AN END TO THE WAR APPEAR ON THE SCREEN
– Mstyslav, everyone saw you with a camera in your hands in a video from Washington, where, on August 18, Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders discussed an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war. Was it only the Ukrainian leader who had strict bodyguards providing security for him?
– I was among the pool of journalists who covered that important event. I don’t know anything about strict guards. (Smiles. – Author).
– How much of your work schedule is currently devoted to documentary filming, and how much to journalism?
- I am gradually moving from journalism to documentary filming, because I understand its power. It lies in the fact that, along with truth and facts, a documentary also carries strong emotions. This is how we try to find a way to the hearts of international viewers in the first place.
Unfortunately, in the world, there is a lot of fake news, lies, generated content. Even after so many years of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, not all people, especially abroad, understand the context of this war; not all understand yet the importance of the work currently being done by the Ukrainian military on the front lines, protecting European borders. There are people who are tired of war, of news, and don’t want to watch or read anything.
That is why I strive to speak to the viewer using the language of cinema. After all, a good documentary often overlaps with journalism. And this is an opportunity to do both at the same time.
– You have already said that you want your next feature-length documentary to be about the end of the war. So, video of the negotiations at the White House on August 18 is included in the new film, right?
– A good documentary is being done for months if not for years. And until you have all the materials, you often don’t even know what the film will be about, but you film everything.
I have been collecting materials for a new film for the last six months, after the official release of 2000 Meters to Andriivka; I collected some even before that. This includes filming on the frontline, in Ukrainian cities and abroad. Until the film is ready, I cannot say exactly what it will be about and what we will see in it.
The only thing I am dreaming of (every director seems to be thinking the same way) is that this film would be about the end of the war. I hope I won’t be filming it for years. I’m hopeful that we’ll see the war closing to an end soon. A lot of people are investing a lot of effort into this to happen.
– Do you still have plans to make a film about Kharkiv? Will it be a documentary or a feature film? At what stage is the work now? How often do you visit your hometown?
– I have been filming Kharkiv for many years. Particularly after the start of the full-scale invasion, I have collected a huge amount of material. I would really like it to be a separate film or part of what I am currently working on. It’s because Kharkiv is my home city and one of the most important strategic cultural centers in Ukraine. So, it is important to tell about its role in the defense of Ukraine and about the civilian life in Kharkiv amid war. I would really like to find the right angle for this.
In feature films, you first write a script and only then shoot the film. And in documentary films, you first shoot, and only then write the story and script. Therefore, the implementation of the idea about Kharkiv is still in progress. This creative process takes time and patience.
– Did you immediately feel like a pro-Ukrainian while in Kharkiv? Because for a long time the city was predominantly Russian-speaking, with its own specific features.
– Listen, that’s a good question. Now I don’t even think about my surroundings, but about what I felt when I grew up, studied, and worked in Kharkiv. I was born in 1985 – it was still part of the Soviet Union. However, I know for sure that my school years, my years of youth and professional development were spent in independent Ukraine.
I never felt either myself or the city of Kharkiv, in which I grew up, as anything other than Ukraine. I never had any questions about my self-identification. I grew up in independent Ukraine, I am Ukrainian.
Some older people who lived near me may have felt nostalgia for the Soviet era or had family ties to Russia, since Kharkiv is located close to the border. Now I am happy that many of my friends and those people with whom we once were in touch and worked are now switching to the Ukrainian language. Now they understand more consistently and thoughtfully that they are Ukrainians, that Kharkiv is a Ukrainian city.
– English has become your working language. When did you manage to learn a foreign language perfectly? Is it a base from school?
– Yes, it’s school, followed by private lessons, but it was mostly thanks to cinema. What helped me learn English was that I watched a lot of films in the original-language version. Then I read scripts, translated films.
I love cinema very much. Cinema is my life, my passion. Cinema is the best thing in the world.
– You have been educated in one specialty but ultimately went into journalism. When and why did this transition happen?
– I have done a diploma in the IT filed, specializing in computer networks. I graduated from the wonderful Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, but I eventually realized that this wasn’t a good fit for me. Even back then I was more interested in cinematography, I was already writing books and started taking photos and shooting videos. My cradle, where I was born as a journalist, was the first job after university – the Kharkiv agency MediaPort.
MEMORIES OF SHEVA, KOBZAR, GAGARIN AND THE COST OF FREEDOM OF UKRAINIAN LAND
– At the International Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights “Docudays” in Kyiv in early June, you presented the film 2000 Meters to Andriivka, dedicated to the 3rd Assault Brigade. What are you excepting from the release in Ukraine and meetings with new viewers?
Фото
– In June, in addition to Docudays, which was attended by a wide audience, we held several screenings for the military: for those who are featuring in the film alongside their comrades. And this was perhaps the most important thing for me.
One of these screenings took place in a large Multiplex cinema. And at that same time, viewers were leaving other cinemas, where they were watching wonderful and exciting films -- How to Train Your Dragon, Formula 1 (and such films are necessary, at the right time).
The first thing the military told me then was, “We would really like all these people to go and watch 2000 Meters to Andriivka. Because this is real, something we and our comrades go through every day. We want everyone to understand how painful and tragic, often very difficult, defense is. How much strength it requires, and how scary it is.”
These words proved that in this film, we have shown things from right perspective. Showing heroism is what means the most. That being said, it is equally important to show the daily self-sacrifice of our soldiers on the front line -- in trenches, cities and villages. Our freedom comes by the hard and great work, and feat of these people - and we must remember this.
2000 meters to Andriivka is primarily dedicated to the memory of the people who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the land we are calling our home; for the freedom of our families and our brothers in arms. Not for political slogans or abstract ideas, but for the Ukrainian land, which we count not even in kilometers, but in meters, each spilled with someone's blood.
For me, it is extremely crucial that society is aware of the cost of the freedom of its land. When the time comes and the war ends – and it will end, sooner or later – there will be those who will try to convince our society that everything should be forgotten, that resisting the Russian invasion was not that hard to do. I do not want the defenders with the call signs Kobzar, Sheva, Frick and all those who sacrificed their lives for this land to be forgotten.
– Why the 3rd Assault Brigade and Andriivka? Being a military journalist, you have known the Donetsk region since 2014.
– The summer of 2023 was the summer of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, it was talked about all across the world. The front line was on fire.
For me, the counteroffensive was the most important story that happened in 2023; both hope and pain, and a symbol of a struggle that has been going on for years; not since 2022, but since 2014. During that period, we were presenting the film 20 Days in Mariupol in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London – and each time after that, I flew to Poland, crossed the Ukrainian border and went to the front line with my colleagues.
During the summer of 2023, we were filming several different units. Then, with Alex Babenko, the second cameraman, we met the platoon commander from the Hydra unit of the 3rd Assault Brigade, call signed Fedya, and watched the footage the fighters had shot on their helmet cameras.
On a map, we saw a narrow two-kilometer-long tree line leading to Andriivka. And this revealed to us the deep drama and symbolism of the story of Fedya and his friends’ unit and the narrow strip of land 2,000 meters long that was reminiscent of thousands of similar burning tree lines for which battles were fought. Andriivka became a symbol of those small and large villages that the Ukrainian defenders have liberated.
Then we realized: if we are able to tell this story, focus on it only and delve as deeply as possible, it will become a symbol of the entire struggle, the entire front line, every soldier fighting on the front line.
We continued filming until Andriivka was liberated, and then throughout the year we continued to speak with the soldiers. Some, unfortunately, were filmed… already at funerals. This only strengthened our desire to complete the film and show this story to as many people as possible.
– The film crew on the front line was called “pencils”. Who else was working with you and Alex Babenko?
– I, the director of photography, and Alex – the second camera and co-producer -- were working immediately “in the field”, where a smaller team is more secure team. Needless to say, all my colleagues from the Associated Press were helping us create the film.
The main rule of survival is that you should not be alone. This is what saves your life, and thanks to which you can still do your job.
– How many cameras did you deploy on the front line to film the materials for the film 2000 meters to Andriivka? Which one filmed a combat vehicle stalling while evacuating our defenders from the battlefield?
– That was one of the first battles. Like other combat actions featuring in the film, the video was filmed by helmet cameras of 3rd Assault Brigade soldiers. The footage featuring a combat vehicle driven by the soldier with the call sign Piro – he is a fantastic, heroic man. He was saved then, I am very happy that he is alive.
We tasked ourselves not only to go through and film what we could -- the command and observation post (COP), the work of artillery, and Fedya, who carried the Ukrainian flag. We had to collect the maximum possible amount of materials filmed by helmet cameras of the fighters moving to Andriivka, and to build a story from this: sequence them in the appropriate order, tie them geographically to the distance. The further we move in the film together with the Brigade, the more cameras we add. Accordingly, we film and edit the scenes that are already more complex. Michelle Mizner worked with me as editor, like she did for the film 20 Days in Mariupol.
The film begins with one perspective, with one camera. When we find ourselves 600 meters from Andriivka, we see the battle filmed by seven cameras: two helmet cameras (one of them is a 360-degree panoramic camera), two more drones, two cameras in the headquarters and one filming military medics receiving the wounded. Selected and synchronized materials allow us to transport the viewer to the very heart of the battle; to show the war as no one else has seen it to this day.
Technology wasn’t developed enough to create a film like that -- neither in World War I, nor in World War II, nor in Vietnam, nor even at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014. It is possible now to transport the viewers immediately into a trench, next to the soldiers so that they feel what the soldiers are feeling. The most important thing for us is to get the distance between the viewer and the soldier reduced as much as possible.
THE FILM 2,000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA HAS ALREADY OFFICIALLY QUALIFIED FOR AN OSCAR
–- Which of the war films did you analyze before deciding to make 2,000 Meters to Andriivka? Which ones might have inspired you? I was reminded of 1917, the 2019 feature film by acclaimed British director Sam Mendes that depicts the events of World War I.
– There are films that we used as structural references in the editing work. However, we did not try to get them replicated. Take, for example, Dunkirk. The narrative techniques and the use of VoiceOver techniques were inspired by Terrence Malick’s films, such as The Thin Red Line, for example.
The film 1917 is one of my favorite films about war, as if shot in one shot. However, it is impossible to replicate in a documentary what happens in feature films.
The first scene of our film 2000 Meters to Andriivka lasts about 10 minutes. The American audience noticed that it reminds them of the first scene of the film Saving Private Ryan -- epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and set during World War II. In our film about the 3rd Assault Brigade, it’s documentary footage, the reality. When the viewers come to understand that everything they see on the screen is real, it affects emotions very deeply.
The film Apocalypse Now about the Vietnam War had a noticeable influence on me as a director. It is similar in that the main character goes towards his specific goal from the very beginning. The goal pursued by the commander with the call sign Fedya is to raise the Ukrainian flag over Andriivka, to liberate the village. He has achieved it.
I think that my work as a director of photography is influenced by Alfonso Cuarón and Emmanuel Lubezki. Moreover, it is not only about inspiration from films. Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms, his war reports from two world wars were once the book of the day. There are also paintings by Paul Nash and other artists from World War I. They are reminiscent of what we see taking place in the Serebryanka Forest near Kreminna in the Luhansk region.
– Your second film, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, is embarking on the Oscar marathon journey. How do you assess the chances?
– My confidence is that virtually every film submitted this year to represent Ukraine at the Oscars is worthy of this. I believe that these are the documentaries that should represent Ukraine during the war. Although, there may be other views on this, of course.
We have already qualified for the Oscars (this became possible thanks to winning the grand prize at the DocAviv festival in Israel) and will compete for the best documentary film award - this is a different category. I do not know what the result will be, but I hope for the best.
2025 is actually the golden year of Ukrainian documentary cinematography. I have watched at least 15 documentaries at international festivals, and all represented Ukraine worthily. In the third year of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, lots of films have been released that show the war from many different angles. Some of them will definitely reach the viewer. This means that Ukraine will definitely be in the film context this year, we will be talked about, our films will be watched.
Knowing the modern viewer, knowing how difficult it is to break through to the international audience with Ukrainian cinema now, we are making every effort we can to make not only a philosophically profound and thematically important film. We strive for it to be universal, exciting for a wide audience.
The cinematography of 2,000 Meters to Andriivka, which we are talking about, the structure of the documentary film are actually elements of a feature film. The dramaturgy of the voice-over text, the film’s focus on the characters, rather than on information and context, music, sound – this all contributes to the film being as interesting as possible even for an audience that knows little about Ukraine.
But after these viewers come and watch the film, find parallels with 1917 or Saving Private Ryan, their other favorite classic films, they will say: “Oh, now I know more about Ukraine and the Ukrainian military”.
– Your stay in Mariupol since February 24, 2022 and subsequent professional activities have made you a witness to the war crimes the Russian Federation committed in Ukraine. In Kyiv last year, you said having been threatened. Is the witness protection program in effect for you?
– There has never been such a program in effect for me. I wish I had this protection, but, alas…
Nowadays, every person with a camera is a witness. Even in democracies, information is rendered a weapon. This means that we, journalists, documentarians, are viewed by totalitarian regimes as combatants, which we are not. And we are viewed as a target, which is bad, inappropriate. But this is the reality in which we live.
– You are the narrator in both of your documentaries. In 2000 Meters to Andriivka, you pronounce a few sentences mentioning Ukraine’s thousand-year struggle. Did these words reach foreign viewers?
– Well, maybe they won’t hear it the first time. In any case, the information remains in the subconscious mind. It will become conscious for many, sooner or later.
And the next time someone tells them that Russia is trying to take away freedom and independence from Ukraine, they will remember that we have had to resist the aggression not for three years, but for a hundred and a thousand years!
One film is not enough to tell people about the history of Ukraine. This is a complex, long-term, painstaking work that needs to be done for years.
For years, the aggressor country has been promoting its culture and its narratives across the world with the help of cinema, literature, and cultural organizations that worked in every major European or American city. And this has borne fruit, regrettably.
We, cultural figures, need to realize this. And understand: in order for our perspective to be seen, it is not enough just to make a film and put it on YouTube. You have to work every day, in different directions, with all audiences, for decades – and then it will give long-term results.
Valentyna Samchenko. Kyiv
Photo: Hennady Minchenko