Ukrainian documentary filmmaking is experiencing a real surge today — an important tool for recording the events of the war, particularly for an international audience.
On the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, the director and founder of the Ukrainian Film School, Alena Tymoshenko, specially selected 7 documentaries about the war in Ukraine for VOGUE, which explore various aspects of it.
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“20 Days in Mariupol” (directed by Mstislav Chernov)
The Ukrainian film that won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2024. The work was also awarded the BAFTA Award in the Best Documentary category and received more than 20 other awards and 40 nominations at international festivals. The film by Ukrainian journalist and director Mstislav Chernov covers the first 20 days of the siege of Mariupol during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February-March 2022. Chernov, along with photojournalist Yevhen Maloletka and producer Vasilya Stepanenko, were the only international journalists who remained in the city, documenting the horrific events and war crimes. These materials became some of the first evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops and were distributed around the world.
“2000 Meters to Andriyivka” (dir. Mstislav Chernov)
Another film by Chernov covers the events of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Bakhmut direction in 2023. The film tells the story of the fighters of the 3rd separate assault brigade, who break through a fortified forest to liberate the village of Andriyivka. The authors of the film accompany the military, recording heavy fighting, trench reality and the human stories of soldiers on the front line. At the Sundance Film Festival in the USA, the film won the award for best direction in the “World Documentary” category. The international distribution rights of the film were acquired by the British company Dogwoof, which will allow the film to be shown to a wide audience internationally.
“Porcelain War” (dir. Slava Leontiev, Brendano Bellomo)
The film is about three Kharkiv ceramic artists who create porcelain figurines during the war. After the start of the full-scale invasion, they decided to stay in Kharkiv and, under constant rocket fire, continued to create porcelain figurines, decorating destroyed buildings with them. The world premiere of the film took place on January 20, 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Grand Prix of the American Jury in the documentary category. In January 2025, “The Porcelain War” was nominated for an Oscar in the category “Best Documentary Feature”.
“Real” (dir. Oleg Sentsov)
The documentary film by Ukrainian director and military serviceman Oleg Sentsov is based on real events during the fighting in the Kherson region in the summer of 2023. All the material was shot on a GoPro camera mounted on Sentsov's helmet, so “Real” shows the realities of war without embellishment or editing. The world premiere of “Real” took place at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where the film received rave reviews from critics and viewers. The Ukrainian distribution began on February 20, 2025 and is accompanied by a fundraiser to support the families of the deceased Ukrainian soldiers.
“Mariupol Fortress” (directed by Yulia Hontaruk)
A documentary film series created by the BABYLON'13 association under the direction of director Yulia Hontaruk. The project began in the first weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and is dedicated to the defenders of Mariupol, who held the defense at the Azovstal plant for 86 days of complete encirclement. The films are based on video calls and interviews with soldiers of the Azov regiment, which allows you to deeply immerse yourself in their personal stories and experiences. Each film in the series focuses on a separate hero. The “Mariupol Fortress” series was shown at various international film festivals and film screenings, and now the films are available on YouTube, so a wide audience around the world can get acquainted with these heroic stories.
“Careful! Life Goes On” (directed by Anton Shtuka)
A documentary film by director and graduate of the Ukrainian Film School Anton Shtuka tells the story of a Kharkiv street artist's journey to the liberated city of Izyum. The artist paints his works on the streets of the city destroyed during the Russian occupation and communicates with local residents. One of them, Volodymyr, lost half of his family when a building collapsed. Communication with the artist inspires him to make changes in his own life. In Ukraine, the film was presented in the competition of the 2024 Odessa International Film Festival.
“Songs of the Slowly Burning Land” (dir. Olga Zhurba)
The documentary covers two years of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The film captures the transformation of society – from the initial panic to adaptation to the new realities of war. In September 2024, the film was presented at the 81st Venice Film Festival, and also won an award at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in the USA.