Keswick Film Club - 20 Days In Mariupol

Synopsis

We hesitated about showing this documentary, but the constantly great reviews (100% on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.7 on IMDb) and the number of members who voted for it, persuaded us it should be seen: An inside view of the Russian occupation of this Ukrainian city is not going to be an easy watch, but probably one we all should see.

Near the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the city of Mariupol took the brunt of weeks of shelling and fighting. When Russia invaded the city, "The Ukrainian Associated Press journalist and film-maker Mstyslav Chernov was there for 20 days, and filed video reports that helped to galvanise western opinion, particularly the horrific images of mass graves. But this movie is the uncut, unexpurgated version: the real nightmare, the real explicit obscenity which no TV executive would put on the nightly news" - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian.

Whilst Chernov inevitably shows much of this nightmare, he also disproves many of the Russian myths: "During the siege, Russian propaganda claimed that bombing victims were plants, singling out one wounded pregnant woman as 'an actress' wearing make-up. Chernov's footage shows that very woman stumbling, dazed through the rubble. There are no actors here" - Phil de Semlyen,Time Out.

The Ukrainian people are still suffering and dying.

Lest we forget...