Oscar winner Mstyslav Chernov returns to Sundance with a new doc about war in Ukraine

Oscar-winning documentarian and Associated Press journalist Mstyslav Chernov has a new film that delves further into the Russia-Ukraine war.

“2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a joint production between the AP and PBS’ “Frontline,” will have its world premiere in January at the Sundance Film Festival, organizers said Wednesday.

Chernov won the best documentary Oscar in March for “20 Days in Mariupol,” his harrowing depiction of the early days of the war. That film debuted at Sundance in 2023 before going on to collect many of the film industry’s most prestigious awards, including from the Directors Guild and BAFTA. The film drew on AP reporting that also won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for public service and featured prominently that same year in a Pulitzer for breaking news photography.

The new film takes place during the failing counteroffensive and focuses on a Ukrainian platoon’s mission to try to liberate a strategic village from occupation. They need to traverse “one mile of heavily fortified forest,” the description reads. “But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides.

Kim Yutani, the festival’s director of programming, said she expects audience will be deeply moved by the film.

“It’s an incredible documentary,” Yutani said. “It really takes you into the trenches, literally into the trenches with Ukrainian troops, Ukrainian soldiers, citizens who became soldiers — a beautiful, horrifying portrait of the futility of war.”

The Sundance Film Festival kicks off on Jan. 23 in Park City, Utah, and runs through Feb. 2.

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For more AP coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, visit https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press