It is not easy to get an interview with a brand new Oscar winner in the days following the gala at the Dolby. The race for prizes is exhausting, and those who have taken part need to recharge their batteries urgently. However, Mstislav Chernov, who took home the golden statuette for best documentary for the shocking 20 days in Mariúpol, does not hesitate when La Vanguardia proposes a meeting. This award-winning war correspondent, novelist, and now film director who covered the siege of that Ukrainian city early in the war with Russia for the Associated Press, knows this is his best time to spread a message that he considers urgent: that what happens in his native Ukraine can spread to the rest of Europe at any moment.
How is the contrast between the glamor of Oscar night and the experiences of Mariúpol?
The last ten years I have experienced very similar dissonances. Many times, if you’re covering a war, then you get to go to countries that are enjoying peace. Logically, the first response of the body and mind is to try to tell the people around you that they should pay attention. Then you realize that it’s logical that they don’t think about war, because it’s not normal. But getting on stage and talking to people who don’t spend their days ruminating on war seems to me as important as being on the front line. One day I was in a small rubber boat, crossing the Dnipro River at dawn, while the Ukrainian forces advanced towards the left bank that had been occupied; a truly dangerous time. And, the next day, I was in New York at a party, talking to people, and that dissonance seemed absurd. But at the same time, this shows that what is happening in Ukraine is close to the people of Europe and the United States. It forces us to recognize that war is not far away, it is very close. I hope that cinema does not separate itself from the problems of the world. In fact, it doesn’t.
Why does he say that?
It is clear in the films that were recognized this year. When I had the opportunity to talk to Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy, I felt that they made Oppenheimer because of this same connection with the great evils of our society.
As an Associated Press correspondent, how did thinking about a film combine with reporting?
This has been the hardest and most dangerous experience I have had in my life. And that I’ve been through six wars. What mattered most to me was recording everything. I didn’t think about what the structure of the film should be, or how I could build the narrative, or any other cinematic problem. My goals were to gather information, pass it on, and survive. I had to be able to eat once a day, have some water to drink and be able to charge the batteries of the equipment.
Do you feel that your experience as a war correspondent allowed you to keep your cool?
Of course, the experiences I had experienced in the last ten years at work helped me overcome my emotions and be able to continue working. Everything I had studied about film and journalism, and what I had learned about survival, led me to this event that became the most important and defining of my life, the Mariúpol siege. What happened there changed me forever, and thousands of people as well.
While filming in Mariupol he was already a famous journalist. Was this an advantage or a complication?
The danger was much greater than for a stranger. At the same time, that helped, because a lot of people wanted to talk to me and brought me stories. Every person with a camera, now, is a target. Because information has become a weapon, they think journalists and filmmakers are legitimate targets. I don’t forget what happened to Mantas Kvedaracius, a Lithuanian filmmaker who was in Mariupol at the same time as us. He was captured and shot by the Russians, when he tried to leave using the same paths that we used to leave.
Do you feel there is a connection between what you show in Mariupol and what is currently happening in Gaza?
Yes, obviously. The effect of war on civilians is universal. Mariúpol goes beyond specific events, it has a symbolic meaning, it shows the devastating impact of the war on civil society. War is absurd. I’m glad people can see that there is a connection. Cinema speaks of the universal.
Oscar has placed him in a privileged position. Will he continue to cover wars?
I will go back to war, no doubt. I have two more documentaries in Ukraine, which I am filming at the moment. I will continue to stay in Ukraine for the duration of the Russian invasion. It will be a central theme of my work. On the other hand, I am in a position where I can help the young generations of Ukrainian filmmakers. When I started, I would have liked the support of a community. And that’s something I can now offer. It will be one of my priorities. I will also continue working on a novel, and I want to make fiction films. The truth is that now is not the time to rest. Time to get back to work.