Following 20 Days in Mariupol‘s win for Best Documentary Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards, Hot Docs has selected the new documentary from Ukrainian photojournalist and war correspondent Mstyslav Chernov, marking its Canadian premiere. The filmmaker returns to the front lines, amidst a highly perilous counter-offensive led by the Ukrainian army to retake the village of Andriivka, which has been under the administration of Russian forces since March 2022.

Visually striking and underscored by a dramatic score from Sam Slater, 2000 Meters to Andriivka plunges us directly into the horrors of war. Sensitive viewers, please be advised: the raw depiction of death in real-time and injuries from bullets or mortar fire is chilling. Through immersive scenes, footage captured by drones or helmet cameras of soldiers from the 3rd Assault Brigade, as well as by Mstyslav Chernov and his colleague Alex Babenko, the staging appears inspired by landmark war films in cinema history and the world of war video games. This pursuit of visceral emotion and striking imagery within the trenches and the infantry’s advance through the ravaged forest is arguably the limitation of this stylistic exercise. We are captivated by this incredible visual and auditory spectacle, so much so that it sometimes detracts from the human element, the connection to reality, the suffering, the daily lives, and the fear of these heroic soldiers who know they are heading towards probable death.

However, when Chernov sets down his camera between mortar fire or assaults and takes the time to chat with soldiers, to exchange glances and smiles, when he recounts in voiceover the fate of these soldiers who died months later, his film then takes on a human dimension that evokes compassion, with a relationship to documentary time that distinguishes it from mere war reporting. As soon as the soldiers achieve their counter-offensive, the Ukrainian flag once again flies in the air, but the joy is fleeting in the face of the immense efforts and accumulated deaths to retake the village of Andriivka, now completely destroyed. The strength of 2000 Meters to Andriivka lies in its ability to question the post-war period, with the colossal reconstruction efforts awaiting Ukraine, alongside the psychological rebuilding of broken souls and families.

2000 Meters to Andriivka screens at Hot Docs on April 27th and 29th, 2025.

Translated from French by François Grondin.