Homecoming on film: Award-winning Mariupol documentary screened for 1st time in Ukraine

The award-winning film “20 Days in Mariupol” made its premiere in Ukraine, attended by some Ukrainian medics and security officials who got their first look at the jarring documentary on how Russian forces bombed and blasted their way into the southeastern port city last year. Repeated standing ovations in a packed Kyiv cinema, mixed with tears and hugs, greeted some Ukrainian civil servants on hand who had toiled nearly non-stop in and around Mariupol hospital that was a centerpiece of the film. The documentary, released this year, chronicles the city’s throes in the early days of the Russia invasion of Ukraine that began Feb. 24, 2022.