Ukrainian documentary 20 Days in Mariupol earns BAFTA best documentary honors

The Ukrainian film 20 Days in Mariupol directed by Mstyslav Chernov won the "Best Documentary" nomination at the British BAFTA Film Awards, reads a message on the website of the award.

20 Days in Mariupol was also nominated as "Best Film Not in the English Language". However, Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest won in this category.

The film 20 Days in Mariupol tells about the first weeks of hostilities in Mariupol, when the city was surrounded by the Russian military, during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "Mariupol is a symbol of everything that is happening - struggle, faith. Thank you for strengthening our voice and let's continue to fight," Chernov said during the award ceremony.

Photographer Yevgeny Maloletka and producer and journalist Vasylisa Stepanenko were also involved in the creation of the picture. All three received the Pulitzer Prize for their work in the besieged Mariupol.

In particular, Mstiylav Chernov received the award of the Directors Guild of America (DGA Awards) for "outstanding directorial achievements in documentary cinema". And 20 Days in Mariupol was nominated for an Oscar as the best documentary film.

At the same time, the film Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan won the most BAFTA awards - seven. Among the awards the film took home are Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. This was the first BAFTA statuette for Nolan.

The film Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos about a woman of the Victorian era collected awards in five nominations: for special visual effects, sets, costume design and make-up and hair. The performer of the main role, Emma Stone, was recognized as the best actress.

The picture Zone of interest (co-production of Britain and Poland) about the German overseer of the Auschwitz concentration camp won three out of nine nominations.

However, last year's top-grossing film, Greta Gerwig's Barbie, as well as Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, Celine Song's Past Lives and Bradley Cooper's Maestro, left the BAFTAs without awards.

The BAFTA Awards are an annual award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This is the British equivalent of American Oscars. The first British Academy Awards ceremony took place in May 1949.

The Academy Award looks like a theater mask. Its design was developed in 1955 by the American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe.