Producer of the movie "20 days in Mariupol": "Killian Murphy on" Oscar "we personally wished us"

Vasilisa Stepanenko, a producer of a single Ukrainian film who won Oscar, told how the tape that shook the world was shot. At the Documentary Cinema Forum, Focus has taken an exclusive interview in Vasilyna Stepanenko - producers of "20 days in Maripol" (Associated Press, Frontline). For the first time in the country's history, the Ukrainian film was awarded the Oscar and BAFTA. Our boys stood on the same stage with the Hollywood stars of the first magnitude.

The picture has already received more than 20 awards and 40 nominations around the world and has become the most casual national documentary, collecting 6 million UAH in a box office (focus was one of the first to see a painting and wrote a review). The latest news in this row: on May 8, the creators of the tape were awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Vasilisa Stepanenko told focus about how she got to the Associated Press team as they were in Mariupol in an hour of invasion, how they escaped from the city with captured materials and who from the Hollywood stars at the ceremony supported the creators of the ribbon. Tell us in a nutshell what did you do before being in the Associated Press team? I worked on Kharkiv television and once the editor sent me to cover a complex topic - about Duchenne's muscular dystrophy.

No one wanted to take it because it was difficult for many, because often with such dystrophy - these are deadly people. But I have always been looking for difficult topics. I am interested in the stories of people with rare diseases, I wanted to cover the topics of human rights struggle, knowing that these rights are being violated. Duchenne's muscular dystrophy is a congenital disease, through which muscles gradually lose their functionality in children.

I told you in television about their lives, how difficult it is. When they are not supported by the state in such a difficult situation. In Ukraine, they cannot survive to 20 years, because there are no rehabilitation centers here, there are no funding for the medicines they need. I drew attention to this problem. It doesn't matter that there are few such people. They need help.

I released a series of television, then did a diploma work on this topic - a documentary about children with rare diseases: how they live in our country. When I got to know these children, I saw their eyes, learned about their dreams - just riding a bicycle, I was touched. Because we are ordinary people who have the opportunity to ride a bicycle, we do not appreciate it very much. And they do not have this opportunity. Media support was critically important for them.

Something changed after your reports? I know that some children got funding for breathing devices. Which are switched on at night and the lungs of children are stimulated. I know that their parents were given the opportunity to participate in meetings of the city council, meetings in the business environment-some entrepreneurs then helped them. How did you get on the Associated Press and directly into the team of Mstislav Chernov and Yevgeny Faldy? I called me to the team of Mstislav Chernov.

They needed a local producer in Kharkiv. It was a month before a full -scale invasion. The story was about how people react to war, how they live in these realities. I needed to find heroes, negotiate. And Chernov and a young age were filmed. Associated Press gave accurate instructions? They knew 100% that there would be an invasion? No, they did not know 100% that the invasion would. But because they are the US agency, of course, they knew some information from US intelligence.

But for example, I did not believe that this could happen. That it can be so cruel and scary. However, the US Embassy left Kiev in January 2022 - it was an eloquent fact. Yes, the editors and I followed, of course, the events. But I was a freelancer in this team, so I was engaged in my task - preparing stories for filming. We were first in Kharkiv, and then went to Donetsk region - to illuminate what happened at the front at that moment. The week was at the front. Were in Bakhmut on February 23.

At the same time, you remember, the Russian Federation signed documents on the so -called LNR and DNR. It was already a serious sign, we realized that the invasion would most likely begin. But we thought, if something starts, then it will happen in the east of Ukraine. However, Mariupol is a strategically important place for Russians. They already tried to capture it in 2014. This is a port city, it is a way to Crimea: we have analyzed all this.

We decided that evening: either to return to Kharkiv, or to go to Mariupol. They decided to go to Mariupol. We were traveling from February 23 to 24, and there was surprisingly quiet for Mariupol - it is a frontier city. Our correspondents worked there all the time: by February 24 there was another Associated Press team. They shot the news. We changed this team - they went to Kiev - help needed help. And we arrived in Mariupol an hour before a full -scale invasion.

They took the apartment that I removed for us and began to carry things from the car. I heard the explosions somewhere in the outskirts - they were not in the city yet. But they were approaching. And the first wounded people we saw in Mariupol were from the village of Sartana - there were already fighting, this village was fired from helicopters and wounded evacuated to Mariupol.

How did you feel at that moment - have you tripled or, conversely, have you had to overcome fear to perform your professional duties? I felt probably like all Ukrainians. I, as a civilian, was not ready for war. I did not know what war was, although the war in Ukraine since 2014. I was 14 years old at the time, I studied in Kharkiv and never heard explosions. It was a shock for me. And the first days were like in a dream. But on the first day, I made a promise that I would not be weak.

And where were your parents at this moment? Have you been in touch? They were in Kharkiv, we live 30 kilometers from the border with Russia. The tanks entered my area on the first day and stood in front of the windows of my house. My parents were under shelling, they descended into the basement. There was a arrival in my house. It was difficult for them there, we called and did not know how to act.

But I made a promise to be strong and, moreover, I was in a team with the most experienced journalists who have covered this war since 2014, which were in other wars. I took my hands and realized that I could not be worse than my colleagues and the only thing I can do now is to work. Did you understand that your material would be a testament to Russian military crimes? At that moment I did not realize it. We made reports like ordinary journalists.

From the moment of people on the streets stood for products or gasoline - until they were hiding in cellars. Someone was already trying to leave the city. We just documented it all. And the fact that our materials will be proof of war crimes, documented stories of people - I realized later when we had already left Mariupol. When she saw that these photos were on all pages and covers of the world media. And this woman in labor on stretchers. Her name is Irina. She was thirty years old.

It was her first child. This is a very tragic story (Vasilyn's voice shuddered). Have you been in a maternity hospital then? No, there were Mstislav and Eugene, I was waiting for them nearby. This is a photo of Eugene. What was the most terrible for you at that time? Every new day was more frightening than the previous one. The situation was becoming more difficult. It was scary when she heard the explosions near the hospital when she heard the first air strike.

But the worst moment is the death of the first person when he was brought to the hospital. Doctors tried to save, but they failed. In the movie it was a teenager-old man. There were many dead children, but the first was a four -year -old girl. It was the hardest moment. I first saw the death of the baby so close. Tears in the eyes of doctors and mother will remain in my memory forever. It's cruel and scary. But then there were many such moments every day.

Hundreds of wounded, and doctors did not know what to help them: they ended the medicine, tied up on the floor, there was no connection, water, food, to feed people - it was difficult. For me, the culmination of the movie when the doctor unfolds the diapers and there is a dead baby. It is the death of children that is the most in this picture, because adults are adults and children are children. No, every death is scary.

Just from the death of the baby even more painful, this person did not even have time to live. Didn't have time to do anything. Children should not die. And here is not just a stolen childhood, but a stolen life - a person did not have time to be born, as he was taken away, as a child in a movie - she was only 23 days. And who saved people in Mariupol? There were volunteers? On March 14, the first people broke through the defense line through the front line. It was not an organized corridor.

There were few volunteers in the Ukrainian Red Cross in the city, who helped people. They went behind the humanitarian - it is in the picture. The police helped people: they got them from the rubble. And our military helped people. Feats took place in your eyes. What struck you in this sense? I want to say about doctors. It was a honor - just to stay with them, to document their work. Thank them that they allowed it. The way they saved people is truly heroism. The same goes for police.

I want to allocate police officer Vladimir Nikulin, who removed us from Mariupol and saved us life, risking our family and the life of my family. He took us in his car and helped hide all these materials. It was because of him that the world saw this movie. We met after the bombing of the maternity hospital when he came there to help people. He then sheltered us in the police station, helped to find food, a place where you can recharge your phone, camera and laptop.

It also helped us find the last place in the city where the Internet was the office of one of the mobile operators. Did you say that you have drained a small percentage of what you shot - because the Internet was weak? So. When we were in the hospital and the Internet began to disappear, we climbed the last floor and tried to catch the last "sticks" of the Internet. We divided the video into 10 parts and sent from three phones. Because I wanted to shout all over the world.

The most horrifying thing for us was if we can't show it all. Did you say that you managed to go with the Red Cross escort? Have you been checked by the occupiers? The Red Cross convoy was a few cars. We no longer had a car - it remained surrounded by Russians. We wanted to sit in their cars and hoped that the status of volunteers would protect us as international journalists. Although we already understood that in danger.

We just kneaded with the invaders, Vladimir took us into the car, although it was already damaged - without windows. It was his car. We are a vyst (our team, his wife and child) and we left. It was difficult - the planes were in the air. On the contrary, you needed to hide that you are the press? Of course, it was necessary to hide it. Although we believed to the last that the inscription "Press" should guarantee some safety. Type, we are "neutral".

But in this war it is impossible, the enemy is everyone. If you are a man with a camera - you are an enemy, civilian is an enemy. It is dangerous for everyone. The logic of the invaders is clear: criminals do not want their atrocities to be recorded on infos? What did not prevent the Russian media from writing and saying that we are propagandists, terrorists and more.

Yes, it was dangerous: as you know, the Lithuanian director-documentary Mantas Kvedaravichus, who made the movie "Mariupolis", was shot there in March 2022. Vladimir Nikulin and Vladimir Nikulin kept you. He is alive? Yes, he works as a police officer in Donetsk region. A few months ago, he was wounded as a result of a missile attack in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, where the service is served.

Have you had joy, relief when you escaped from this hell and still removed your materials? No, we had a sense of guilt, because there are many people left there - the same doctors with whom we spent so much time. And the day we left - there was a bombing of the drama. There were no journalists there and no one could fix it. Professionally, but there people shot on ordinary phones? Yes, however, these staff are not very clear the scale of the tragedy.

Because even a charged phone was quite difficult to have in that environment. And many people removed these shots from phones because there were checks on checkpoints. The movie "20 days in Mariupol" is appropriate and lyrical line of Chernov, when he communicates with his family through the network. It brought the audience closer to the whole situation. It's very professional. And the frames of the radio with threats: "The City is blocked. " All this gave a voluminous picture of what was happening.

We were not going to make a movie at the beginning. But when they realized that they had taken out 30 hours of shooting, they realized that they needed to create a ribbon. So that this is not forgotten, that it remains in history. And for the people who died, they continue to live in memory. And we started working on the movie. We formed it as follows: we wanted to show the most dramatic moments. Although we have not removed much.

Now I meet people around the world who, looking at "20 days in Mariupol", tell even more terrible stories that happened to them in other areas of the city where we did not get. Yes, we recorded eerie episodes, but we wanted to show some humanity, love, support. Even in the middle of chaos, the war wanted to show that at this time there was a new life when the movie has a moment of birth. We least wanted to show ourselves.

Our installer Michel Mizner said that the reaction of journalists should be shown. It can be seen in the movie when, for example, the camera lowered and we sit down, because there is no strength to stand on our feet. As for the lyrical line, it is also important - this is the inner world of Mstislav. So it was shown by the back of our work, it gave the volume of the picture, because the journalist was also a person, and few people thought about what was happening on the other side of the camera.

This gave an important note - the author's personal attitude towards events. You see a lot of people - victims of war, but the viewer will not associate themselves with victims. But with the witness of these crimes - it will be. This is a significant moment of perception. All horrors were easier to perceive through Chernov's personality. And this, in my opinion, became an artistic component of this documentary.

Yes, thanks to Mstislav, because it never turns off the camera, you can further see some points. As the fate of the film further developed when it was ready. How was it promoted? Did you believe in his victory on Oscar? I still do not believe that I was alive, so I didn't think about any "Oscar". I thought about the people who stayed there and left.

We continued our daily work in Kharkiv, where we documented the bombing of the city in April and May 2022, and at night was the installation of the film. Mstislav went from Michel to do the final installation option. And I and Eugene I worked on a counter -offensive in Kharkiv region. We are one of the first journalists to find mass graves. Of course, we continued to be in touch with Mstislav. Since I am a field producer, I knew every moment - what was happening to the movie.

The premiere took place at the Sandent Festival - we came there with the whole team. It was in January 2023. We were worried, not knowing how the painting would be perceived by viewers. But in the finals of the first show, the whole hall got up and began to applaud. Such was a strong reaction. And we realized that people support us. Now about Oscar.

Tell us about the perception there who you saw there, who supported you there? You are the first Ukrainians to receive Oscar, albeit in such difficult circumstances. Worried: they will give - they will not give? No, because the fact was the fact of the nomination. But there was a victory of humanity and the fact that the world heard us. I felt strange because I had a lot of emotions inside: I came from the war to the Oscar ceremony. It's a big contrast. And my worldview has changed.

Other times, if I got to this action, I would be glad. Wow! And now heroes are people around me in Ukraine. These are military, doctors, volunteers. These are men, women, all people! They inspire me today much more than Hollywood characters. Who still talked with the big stars with you? Who personally paid attention to your project at the Oscar ceremony? Many stars supported us, many of them communicated with Mstislav. Personally, I communicated with Killian Murphy at the Oscar ceremony.

And he told me, "This is an important movie" and wished victory personally. He said that he recommended to look at all his friends. I communicated with Emma Thomas's producer Oppenheimer, who also supported us. Some parallel on the Oscar was drawn between Oppenheimer and 20 days in Mariupol. But I have another parallel with Oppensheimer - personal. I grew up in the Kharkiv district of Pyathatka. It is the area where nuclear physicists lived.

And we had a place where for the first time in the Soviet Union was split the atom. My great -grandfather was the deputy director of this institute - such a community. And so I feel a special connection with this movie. Both of these films are warnings. Yes, but the most tragic thing is that our movie is documentary.

I felt incredible support from the Americans when I stood on stage and saw all these people, I watched how they were looking at us when they were applauded, applauded - it was a great moment for us. And heroes from "20 days in Mariupol" - I imagined, standing with us on stage, even those who are no longer alive. They will be remembered, they will know them.

А у вас є в планах пов'язати своє життя з кіно, може, не тільки документальним, а й художнім? Коли закінчиться війна, я б хотіла зібрати воєдино всі історії, які накопичилися. У мене є й особиста історія, але поки що не хочу про це говорити і робити на цьому акцент.

Але я пережила у своєму віці і як людина своєї статі таке, що, можливо, допомогло б пережити подібне іншим жінкам, які обрали цей шлях. Можливо, це б допомогло їм триматися! Було багато різних ситуацій і думок, які особисто мене змінили.

Бо бажання говорити людям правду, бажання допомогти — цінніше за багато речей. І я дуже вдячна команді, бо в нас був тісний зв'язок і однаковий погляд на світ. І це — частина наших емоцій. На жаль, багато українських художників протягом століть описували трагічні події.