What It’s About
In full bodycam gear, intrepid director Chernov and his collaborator Alex Babenco embed themselves with a Ukrainian platoon during the ill-fated 2023 Ukrainian Offensive. The platoon must advance 2,000 meters against heavy Russian defenses to retake the village of Andrivka in Easter Ukraine. Just over a mile in distance, it will take the lives of many young men to reach it.
Why We Love It
Director Chernov, who won an Oscar for 2023’s shattering “20 Days in Mariupol”, returns with this BAFTA-nominated follow-up, which is every bit as potent. In between the bombs and bullets, Chernov introduces us to these frontline soldiers, most of whom are barely out of boyhood. We hear about their worries and dreams. They fight for their land; what else can they do? Yet even recognizing their heroism, it’s a colossal, tragic waste that so many of them have to die. This joint production between the Associated Press and PBS’s Frontline makes you feel the visceral terror of battle at close range, and both the nobility and futility of war.