The National Council called on Disney to add the “20 Days in Mariupol” awards to the international broadcast of the Oscars

A frame from the film “20 days in Mariupol”

Kinorium

The National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting appealed to the management of the Disney company with a request to return the “20 Days in Mariupol” awards to the licensed broadcast of the award. The letter was published on the website of the National Council.

“Today, all democracies of the world support any possibility to oppose military aggression that threatens the peaceful world order. At this point, your staff decides to delete the part of the ceremony where the journalists receive an award for a feature-length documentary about the horrors and inhuman cruelty of war!”– emphasized the representatives of the National Council.

In the appeal, it was noted that they do not believe in the political motivation of this decision. However, the problem remains that the appeal Mstislav Chernova viewers in many countries of the Eastern Hemisphere and people watching the ceremony on record will not be able to see from the Oscars stage.

“Therefore, we ask you to create and distribute among broadcasters an updated international version, in which the fragment with the nomination “Best Documentary Feature” will be preserved– summed up in the appeal.

The National Council also reminded that it expresses “incredible gratitude for supporting Ukraine’s struggle.” After all, on March 10, 2022, The Walt Disney Company stopped all its businesses in Russia in response to military aggression against Ukraine.

“20 Days in Mariupol” at the Academy Awards

Awarding of the film “20 days in Mariupol” not included in the abbreviated international television version of the “Oscar” ceremony. It lasts 90 minutes – certain categories and parts of the show could not be included in it due to time constraints. Disney Entertainment explained that the selection of nominations for the shortened version was determined several weeks ago during the planning process for the broadcast of the ceremony.

On the night of March 10 to 11, the tape received a statuette in the “Best Documentary” category, thereby winning the first “Oscar” in the history of Ukraine.

“This is the first Ukrainian Oscar in history. But I would like to never make this film, never to appear on this stage, and I would like Russia not to attack Ukraine. If I could exchange the award for Russia not to occupy our cities, not to kill tens of thousands of my compatriots…“, from the stage turned to the director to the audience Mstislav Chernov.

The documentary film was edited on the basis of materials that Chernov and a team of Associated Press photojournalists took in Mariupol besieged by the Russians and sent to the world media, telling about the terrible events in the city: the deaths of children and adults, the creation of mass graves, the maternity hospital destroyed by a Russian aerial bomb, and other Russian military events crimes

The tape became the highest-grossing documentary film in Ukraine last year – it collected UAH 500,000 in the first weekend of release alone.