20 Days in Mariupol achieves record views on Ukrainian streaming services
Forbes Ukraine has reported that the Oscar-winning documentary film 20 Days in Mariupol set a record for views on Ukrainian streaming platforms during the first weekend of its release.
The press services of Megogo, Kyivstar TV, Takflix and Volia TV report that the documentary achieved a record number of views.
It was the most watched film on Megogo, with 21,000 users obtaining access.
"This result speaks to Ukrainians' deep respect for the film’s team and the desire to celebrate and support homegrown cinema," said Valeriia Tolochyna, marketing manager at Megogo.
20 Days in Mariupol set an all-time streaming record on Takflix. The exact number of views is unknown, but Takflix noted that the film outperformed Antonio Lukich’s comedy drama My Thoughts Are Silent and Heat Singers, a documentary directed by Nadiia Parfan, both of which came out before the full-scale invasion.
It was the same story on the Kyivstar TV platform, where the documentary outperformed popular Ukrainian and foreign films. From 21 March to 24 March, 20 Days in Mariupol garnered the most views on Kyivstar TV and Volia TV during its initial streaming release. On Volia TV, the film received five times more views than all other online movies combined.
20 Days in Mariupol was Ukraine's highest-grossing documentary in 2023, earning UAH 500,000 (approx. US$13,000) in its opening weekend.
Best Documentary Film at the 2024 Oscars
The presentation of the award for 20 Days in Mariupol was omitted from the shortened international telecast of the Oscars ceremony. The telecast lasted 90 minutes, and certain categories and parts of the show had to be cut due to time constraints. Disney Entertainment explained that the selection of nominations for the shortened version was determined several weeks in advance during the planning of the broadcast.
20 Days in Mariupol is the first Ukrainian film in history to win an Oscar.
Accepting the award, director Mstyslav Chernov addressed the audience from the stage: "I wish I had never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities.
Russians are killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians…"
After appeals from Ukrainian television and radio operators, Disney changed its mind and pledged to add the film to the international 90-minute version.
The documentary film was assembled from footage captured by Chernov and a team of Associated Press photo journalists in the besieged city of Mariupol, under Russian occupation. This material was sent to international media outlets, depicting the horrific events in the city: the deaths of children and adults, the digging of mass graves, the destruction of a maternity hospital by a Russian airstrike, and other Russian war crimes.
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