20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Dark Invaders

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

This harrowing documentary depicts the beginnings of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But although it shows the true horrors of war — civilians suddenly homeless after their houses are bombed, hospitals shutting down, internet and electricity gone, people constantly under threat — it has a human angle. The filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who works with the Associated Press, does not simply dispassionately film things. He brings us in on his thought process, lets us behind the scenes. He shows citizens chastising him and his crew for filming and not helping. He describes feeling of being trapped in a hospital when Russian tanks arrive outside. (We see crew members dressed in doctors' scrubs, a disguise in case the Russians came inside.) He talks about the challenge of finding a signal, any signal, to send the footage in. He spends a great deal of time and effort to track down a pregnant woman he came across, only to discover the worst. The film ends only when the journalists are afforded an opportunity to get out of Mariupol, but their work, captured under the most fearsome conditions, is crucial evidence of war crimes. (The film can be viewed for free on YouTube.)