FAST FORWARD 2025 / Projections:
14/12/2025 / 18h00 / Montenegrin Cinematheque / Podgorica
12/12/2025 / 18h30 / Cultural Centre / Berane
Mstyslav Chernov / Ukraine, USA / 2025 / 107’
Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Screenplay: Mstyslav Chernov
Producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath
Co-producer: Alex (Oleksandr) Babenko
Director of Photography: Mstyslav Chernov, Alex Babenko
Editing: Michelle Mizner
Music: Sam Slater
Sound: Jakob Vasak
Production: Associated Press; FRONTLINE (PBS)
Distribution: PBS Distribution; Dogwoof
Countries: Ukraine, United States
Year: 2025
Runtime: 107’
SYNOPSIS
A film that brings images and scenes from the war in Ukraine that you will not see in global media or online platforms. The documentary follows a mission carried out by a Ukrainian unit: to advance through two kilometres of heavily fortified forest in order to liberate a strategically important village under Russian control. A journalist accompanies the soldiers, witnessing the destruction, uncertainty and the deepening sense of the war’s unpredictability.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mstyslav Chernov is a Ukrainian photojournalist, war correspondent, video journalist and documentary filmmaker, born in 1985 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Since 2014, he has worked for the Associated Press, covering wars and conflicts including the war in Donbas, the downing of flight MH17, and conflicts in Syria and Iraq, as well as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the siege of Mariupol. Chernov is internationally recognised for his courageous reporting and documentary work under the most difficult conditions. In addition to war reporting, he is also active in artistic and documentary photography and serves as the president of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers. He is the author of the novel Dreamtime, based on his frontline experiences. His work focuses on documenting humanity, suffering and the reality of war, providing truthful and deeply human testimonies of its consequences.
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
- Sundance Film Festival, 2025 – Directing Award – World Cinema Documentary (winner)
- CPH:DOX, 2025 – F:ACT Award (winner)
- DocuDays UA, 2025 – Docu/World – Grand Prix, Rights Now! Award, Audience Award
- IDFA, 2025 – Best of Fests (selection)
- SIFF DocFest (Seattle), 2025 – programme selection
- Gotham Awards, 2025 – Best Documentary Feature (nomination)
- Ukraine’s Official Submission for the Academy Awards – International Feature Film