
Pulitzer Prize and Oscar-winning director and journalist Mstyslav Chernov joins to discuss his new documentary, "2000 Meters to Adriivka."
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Interviewer
Last year, the documentary film 20 Days to Mariupol took home the Academy Award for best documentary feature. The film captured the earliest days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now, for his second documentary, director Mr. Slav Chernov, embedded with the soldiers on the front lines of Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive attacks. The film is titled 2000 meters to Andrivka, and it mostly uses body camera footage to give viewers the sense of danger and horror faced by this group of soldiers. They're fighting in a tiny forest to take back control of Andri, a strategically located village which has already been completely reduced to rubble. Viewers see the soldiers fight to move forward meter by meter, some advancing while others are wounded or killed. 2000 meters to Andrivka will be released in New York theaters today. It will premiere on PBS later this year. And we are joined now by Mr. Slav Chernov. Welcome.
Slav Chernov
Hello. Thank you for invitation. What a day.
Interviewer
What a day. I'd like you to take us back just 2023. Where is situate us in time and space. Where is Andriivka? What's happening at that time?
Slav Chernov
Yeah, that's a tough time for Ukraine. Tough time for me too. It was summer of the counteroffensive that was highly expected and anticipated. Ukrainian army started advancing on all the fronts, but Russian army was digging in for quite a while at that point. And the counteroffensive was going quite slow and with a lot of casualties. At the same time. I was traveling in US and in Europe with 20 days in Mariupol, premiering it in cinemas, visiting the red carpets, and right after that, get in the plane, get in the car, get in the train, getting on the front line. So I was traveling between these two worlds, seemingly incompatible because it felt like a journey a hundred years back in time or another planet. All the destroyed cities, all the mutilated land. And it's also very personal for me to see that those cities in that land, I. It's two hours drive from my hometown, Kharkiv, so I was going to Ukraine and I joined this platoon on their mission. And the mission was so at the same time simple and clear, cinematic almost, you know, because when you have your protagonists, you have a very, very clear goal, and then they need to. Just need to do it. But at the the same time was so painful and so symbolic at the same time.
Interviewer
So Andrivka, I mentioned in my introduction, Andrivka at this point had already been destroyed. So tell us about why this village was so strategically important and what the condition was there at the time.
Slav Chernov
It is a bit of a spoiler. It is a discovery that would make an end of the film. But it's fine, you could tap dance around. The film is much, it's deeper than that. But it is one of the discoveries that we make in the end of the film. After the fight, it takes the brigade nearly three months to get to this through this one mile of a narrow forest squeezed between two minefields. So it is a very heavy and a very slow battle, something you could run in 10 minutes. You spend three times to cross. And of course when you reach that village, when you see that it's destroyed and when you still see them raising the flag, you see them doing what they intended to do, you understand that it's not only about liberation of land and fighting for survival of the country is also about symbol of hope. That flag they raise over the village is a symbol of hope.
Interviewer
How much of this, so you mentioned this is a very narrow sort of a short distance, relatively speaking. It seems like it's all very self contained to a small area. How much of this story about what happens in this very small area is sort of a microcosm of what's being played out?
Slav Chernov
Exactly. I think, I think that that forest for me was always a symbol of the entire war, of the Ukrainian efforts to liberate the land. You know, we all, we all go home, call home. And that's what's that, what gets me in this story. The ability of just zoom in and just be there without distractions to focus on that small strip of land on that small platoo that is walking through it.
Interviewer
And by small platoon we're talking how many people?
Slav Chernov
Yeah, we're talking 100 people. The brigade is obviously bigger and there is a bigger effort happening all across the front line. But we ourselves focus on a small group of soldiers. And yeah, I think it's just with so much noise that we have around us, with so much chaotic information that is bombarding us. Having really focused stories like this one is, is an eye opening, it's just. And also cinematically quite interesting.
Interviewer
I think that you talk about the chaos around us on a day to day basis. I'm thinking more about the chaos around the soldiers that you're embedded with and how that type of chaos tends to make our worlds small. In other words, there are all of these things happening around you. Bombs are exploding, people are dying, people, you know, and it's this tin strip of land and everything sort of like, like comes into this like pinpoint of a position. Did you sense that?
Slav Chernov
Yeah. You know, the main. The main action of the film happens over, not only within this 2000 meters, but over, over one day. So it is all contained and very, very condensed. And as soon as you step in that forest, as soon as I stepped in that forest, it barely could have been called forest at that point. As audience will step in with us, nothing else exists. Your focus entirely goes on the survival. Your focus entirely goes to a man that is right next to you, to the drone that is buzzing over your head, to the bomb that hits right outside of the trench that you are hiding. And that focus on the survival, on a goal, is again, is an eye opening, you know, when you get out and when you get out alive. I think you know much more about life than you knew before.
Interviewer
We're talking with director Mr. Slav Chernov about his new film, 2000 Meters to Andrivka. I want to follow up about how your experience was in this, as we've painted it, very narrow slice of land, very small period of time, very condensed experience. One, how did you get there? Like, what was the process for that? And then two, just kind of like, had you prepared yourself enough for what that might actually be like, you can't.
Slav Chernov
Really prepare yourself for war. This is something you know for sure. All you can make sure that you have a medical training and charged batteries and a friend next to you who will think about your safety as much as you think about his safety. So that's how you prepare. But for us, this story started with meeting the platoon, meeting Fedya, our protagonist and his men.
Interviewer
And you had sort of identified this region.
Slav Chernov
That region was important for me because again, it's quite close to my hometown. It's Donbass. It's right next to the Kharkiv region where I'm from. From. And those are the places where you. When you visit your grandmother in the village, you go. And then those are the little forests where you play hide and seek and you play war with other boys, and then you run in the fields. So those are places of childhood, very, very, very familiar. And stepping in those places in those forests and seeing them changed is also part of. Part of why I wanted to be there personally. You know, this. This film could very well existed in. Just in form of body cam footage from the helmets of the soldiers, but it wouldn't be the same, contrary to me going there and walking the same path that these soldiers went. And we met Feje, we met our protagonist, and they were. They just came out from One of the battles. It's battle 300 meters. The entire film is split into chapters and each chapter marks how close you are to the village. So they just came out of a 300 meters battle and they, they lost a friend. And they showed us this footage from their body cam and they were analyzing, they were analyzing the battle and I saw it and it was shocking. And we, we saw their reaction, how sad they were, but also how determined they were to continue. And I saw the strip of forest on the map and I thought, okay, well, I have to make sure we will be with them since this day until they reach their goal, until they reach Andreevka and raise the flag. And so it happened.
Interviewer
I want to ask you about that body cam footage. What do you think that does? I mean, I know what it did for me watching it, but what do you think it does for. Or hope it does for the viewers of the film?
Slav Chernov
Surprisingly well, not surprisingly. I think we see now how technologies of war are changing and being developed and, and there are so many breakthroughs in, in the technologies at the same time. There is also the same breakthrough in, in technologies of cinematography. And now instruments that were not available for filmmakers several years ago to, to bring the audience into the boots of the soldiers, to just place the audience right next to them. Now these, now these tools are available now. We can show the battle from seven different, different vantage points to two body cam in. In the. In the battlefield. Two drones, two cameras in headquarters synchronize everything and just immerse audience in that experience. Something that could never have been done before.
Interviewer
Those all exist before you got there.
Slav Chernov
Usually it is quite common for military to record battles, especially important battles for the battlefield analysis later. And that's what they were always doing. When you come in as a filmmaker, you always try to add some cameras there, of course. So that's what happened. And so since we came in, we've been recording and filming, but at the same time we asked to show us the archives of the battle that happened right before we came. So because it was already on the way and we, we spent almost a year watching through, translating, editing, editing about a hundred hours of, of body cam footage. Which is. It doesn't seem like impossible, but it is such an intense.
Interviewer
Yeah.
Slav Chernov
And strong experience that because they don't.
Interviewer
Have them running all the time. Right. It's like they flip. Is it like, you know.
Slav Chernov
Yeah. Every bottle. Every bottle is recorded. Is recorded. Almost like two cameras at least and plus drones. And of course some of the cameras are 360. So you can see everywhere. You can turn your head inside the bottle and. And reframe the shot. Yeah, so that existed before you mentioned.
Interviewer
We do see their reaction to seeing some body cam footage. How are they generally when it comes to viewing and. Or viewing the footage and also wearing the cameras? Are the soldiers fairly receptive to that?
Slav Chernov
Yeah, it's just a new reality of war. I think this is just what is normal now. Now you can see the battlefield live from so many perspectives, from several drones, from. From the cameras, from the robotic systems that are deployed on the ground, which wasn't the case in 2023, but now it is. There is a danger in that when you translating all that into film, there is a danger that the audience, that is, saw that footage somewhere in YouTube or Instagram or Telegram, they might feel detached, almost like watching a game. So for us, when we were editing, for me and Michelle Meister, amazing, amazing editor and producer of this film, for us, it was important to. To make sure that it's not. It doesn't feel like a game, that it's all very personal and the audience will never disengage or detach with humanity of that experience. So we stop these scenes that are showed from the. The body cams and we switch to my camera where I just talk to soldier about very, very simple things. But those are the most humane and it was most warm and important moments of the film.
Interviewer
You mentioned. There's a hundred hours, let's say. I mean, is that. Just talk us through the process of that? Is that just you sitting down watching, Watching, watching, watching, Taking a break for your mental health? Watching, watching, watching.
Slav Chernov
Yes, yes. Translators work. That's. That's the first thing. And of course, I watch the entire entirety of it. And Michell is also going through it. And that's. She's probably the one who is hit the hardest because she is thoroughly going through each minute of it and already starting building the scenes, starting seeing the patterns. And she was also pregnant at the time. As we were making a film, as we were getting the news that some of our protagonists were dying, and as we were going through all this footage, you know, she was also going through a very important moment in her life. It was just. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was such a condensed and heavy, but at the same time, important moment in our lives. We were following up in an important milestone in our careers and in our work as 20 days in Mariupol, which at that time received the Academy Awards. So it was. Yeah, it was work of a lifetime.
Interviewer
What surprised you about what you saw.
Slav Chernov
Oh, you know, it always surprises me how optimistic and how strong these men are. In the most. In the most impossible situations, in the most dangerous moments, they still managed to smile, to care, to think about their families, to not to give up. And I think that gave me strength. Like, as hard as his experience was, as challenging and near death experience that was. I never regret doing that because I was never alone in this. There is sense of community and there is sense of optimism. Especially now. It's so important when he thinks, when it feels like everyone is about to give up on Ukraine, everyone is about to. Or use it for their own political benefits. Knowing that those men are there and my hometown is still not occupied because they're still there. Yeah, they are in the Kharkiv region right now is invaluable. And that's the discovery.
Interviewer
Journalists are in peril in this country as well. Talk to us about that.
Slav Chernov
Yeah, it's just in last 10 years, as I've been through six, seven different wars already, Syria, Barak, Afghanistan, Gaza, Karabakh, Ukraine, I've seen that journalists have been increasingly considered as targets. And the reason for that is that information became a weapon. Even for countries that are considered leading democratic powers in the world, they consider information as a weapon, and therefore journalists are becoming targets. And for me, it's always very important to talk about it, to make sure that both cinematographers and journalists are never considered to be participants in war, in information war, or in war in general. Our work is to inform, give context, ask questions. But journalists, filmmakers should not be under any circumstances considered as targets.
Interviewer
But the danger is, I should add, actually, before I ask this question, that we are speaking with director Mstislav Chernoff, who won the Academy Award for his film 20 Days in Mariupol, and we're talking about his new film, which is 2000 meters to Andrivka. The danger that journalists face is such that, you know, you're not even wearing a press. The press vest that identifies you as a journalist when you go out there, which, you know, as a journalist myself, I would think that would be the first thing I would want to do is like, identify myself as somebody who's not a target. But you are a target on the front line.
Slav Chernov
Yeah. Yes, because. And you will see that in a film, carrying the flag is sometimes more. And trying to take a picture or film, it sometimes is more dangerous than a fight through the forest, because ultimately everybody knows that the picture is also as simple. Right. And it is. It stays there and stays in the media space. And it is. It becomes part, part of the fight. It doesn't mean I am part of the fight, but the picture itself is part of the fight. It's not enough just to liberate the village or a city, to make it true, to prove it that it really happened, to give hope to people. You also need to take a picture of that, or it didn't happen. That's what is about history. History is not what happened. History is what we remember. So our job is to make sure that what's remembered is true. And that's why it's so dangerous for journalism and for public media to be attacked and the trust in public media and journalism to be undermin. Because with all the false information, with all generated AI information that is overflowing the Internet and the media space, there's less and less space for Body of Truth. And we have to make sure that it survives in time. Are you.
Interviewer
You mentioned the hopefulness of these soldiers on the field. Are you as a journalist, hopeful for our profession?
Slav Chernov
Yes. We've seen worse times and I am hopeful for the profession. I think we just have to adapt. And this is one of the reasons why I took on the longer form. I feel that documentary cinema is, at this point, at least for me and for the themes that I'm working with, is more impactful than shorter form journalism. It is reaching the emotions of people, not just giving them information, because, well, we know that also truth and information is being attacked and contested, but emotions are always emotions. And if we can get to people's hearts, then they will be also interested in truth and facts. So that's what I'm doing. And yes, yes, we just have to work together. We, none of us alone can make a difference in this, but. But together, collectively, we still can make a difference because, yeah, what's. As I said before, this body of truth, it will survive, but it Only if we work together in it.
Interviewer
The soldiers are hopeful, but they're also angry. I want to get back to the film now. I have a quote here. They're cursing at Russian soldiers and saying, why are you even here? So it seems like there's a good amount of pride and hope and all of the sort of what we might categorize as like positive things that are fueling this internal fire that they have to keep stoking in order to continue across this chasm that however short it may be, is very, very wide. Right? I mean, half a meter, whatever is long. When there's somebody, you know, who's holding a gun to you, my Point being is that there's also an anger that has to fuel them. Right. So that you see that complexity in the film. And I just wondered if you could like comment on how that that kind of pops out here and there.
Slav Chernov
Yeah. And when this, when this soldier asks the question from a Russian soldier who was captured in Andriivka after it was taken, the soldier says, I don't know. So the Ukrainian soldier asks, why are you here? Genuine question. And then the Russian soldier replies, I don't know why we're here. And I think that's, that's the, that's one of the key moments of the film. You see, you see the motivation. What led us there to that moment in Andriyivka is conversations with all of the soldiers and them being volunteers, them being just from around there. One of the soldiers who I speak with, he is from a rival university of mine and his hometown is very, very, very near to Andrivka. And so for him, this is not the source of that anger that you've seen is that the fact that someone came to your house and burned it and killed your friends and killed part of your family and you took a gun and you're protecting your home. So for them is not fight for abstract land that they have to liberate. And you know, those meters and kilometers and we see miles for them is a very, very simple self defense of their home. This is it. Right. And they need a gun to, to do it effectively. And when they can't do it, they get angry because it's hard because they're fighting against much bigger enemy. And because sometimes it seems that everyone around, you know, all your neighbors just sit and watch and occasionally offer you to buy a weapon from them.
Interviewer
You can't get around the violence of this story, obviously, but do you think, do you think it makes sense in the context of the film? In other words, for you not do you think. How do you think it makes context in the sense of the film?
Slav Chernov
The conversation about the violence in cinema, in films is a very interesting conversation that deserves another, you know, another program on itself. So I'd love to talk about it more, but specifically here I think our dedication to show the war as realistically as possible, to give honor to experience into the pain of these soldiers that are going through horrible experience of war. There's nothing worse on earth than war and they have to go through it. So tuning down the violence means tuning down their pain and their experiences and their sacrifices. And that's something I wouldn't do. Also it wouldn't be fair if I wasn't there too. Too, you know, if I wasn't experiencing that firsthand. And. But of course, it has to be a very, very, very delicate balance between not overwhelming the audience with the violence and. And at the same time, not presenting the war in. In a way that would seem acceptable.
Interviewer
Yeah, I have a thought. You're right. It's a whole other show. Because I have a thousand questions that I could follow up that, that. That one with.
Slav Chernov
Well, let's do it someday.
Interviewer
Yeah, let's do it someday. Let's talk about screening the film before we. Before we end our conversation. You have showed it to some of the families of the fallen soldiers who appeared in the film. What was their reaction?
Slav Chernov
Yes, we. We had a screening in Ukraine, in Kyiv, and the soul and. And families of the fallen soldiers came, and our protagonists and soldiers who were recording the battles came, was there. And it was a huge cinema, 700 people. And after the film was over, everyone came to the stage and it was 10 minutes standing ovation of hundreds of people who were thanking the soldiers and thanking the families for their sacrifices, for their fights. And we were all. We were all crying.
Interviewer
Sure.
Slav Chernov
And we were hanging and we were talking, and the wife of Sheva, who is one of the soldiers who lost his life and who. We spent quite a while in trench together talking. She saw it for the first time, and all of them saw it for the first time. And then she told us, finally, his grandson will see who his grandfather was. This was the last moments recorded of him ever. You know, so we. We felt that even if we failed on all difference, even if we don't make a difference anywhere across the world, these families will still have their loved ones and the memory of them living in history. And then soldiers walked out of the cinema and then it was a. It was also a multiplex cinema. So there was a lot of other audiences that came out of Formula One, how to Train youn Dragon, Lilo and Stitch, you know, because there are. These films are also screening in Ukraine. And the soldiers were like, we really want these people who. Just going about their lives. We want them to come in a cinema and see what we saw and live through what we lived. That's what I'm also trying to do here in New York.
Interviewer
Yes. So tell us about seeing the film.
Slav Chernov
Here in New York. Yeah, we. We are opening today in Film Forum. And that's an important moment because for. For the wider American audiences, this is the first time since Sundance which we had in screen film in January. That was even before the elections, you know.
Interviewer
Yeah.
Slav Chernov
And I am in anticipation of seeing the reaction of people. Did it change? What do they feel about it now? You know, since climate has shifted. So I am both terrified, but also anticipating those conversations with the Public Film Forum tonight.
Interviewer
You can see 2000 meters to Andriivka. The director is Mr. Slav Chernoff. We've been in conversation with him today. Thank you so much.
Slav Chernov
Thank you. Stay safe.
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Episode Details:
In this episode of ALL OF IT, host Alison Stewart interviews Slav Chernov, the acclaimed director of the documentary 2000 meters to Andrivka. Building on his previous success with the Academy Award-winning 20 Days in Mariupol, Chernov delves into his latest work that captures the harrowing experiences of Ukrainian soldiers during the 2023 counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Slav Chernov begins by contextualizing the film within the broader scope of the ongoing conflict:
“It was the summer of the counteroffensive that was highly expected and anticipated. Ukrainian army started advancing on all the fronts, but Russian army was digging in for quite a while at that point.” ([01:09])
Chernov highlights the personal toll the war took on him, juxtaposing his life in the U.S. and Europe with his return to the front lines, reflecting the profound contrasts between peace and conflict.
The village of Andrivka, though already reduced to rubble by the time of filming, holds significant strategic value. Chernov explains:
“After the fight, it takes the brigade nearly three months to get to this one mile of a narrow forest squeezed between two minefields. So it is a very heavy and a very slow battle...” ([03:21])
Andrivka serves as a microcosm of the broader war effort, symbolizing both the physical and emotional struggles of the soldiers. The act of raising the Ukrainian flag over the devastated village represents not just territorial liberation but a beacon of hope amidst destruction.
Chernov’s approach to documenting the frontline involves embedding with a platoon of approximately 100 soldiers, utilizing body cameras and drone footage to immerse viewers in the soldiers' perilous journey. He emphasizes the technological advancements that allow for such intimate and multifaceted storytelling:
“Now these tools are available now. We can show the battle from seven different vantage points to two body cam in the battlefield...” ([10:51])
The director underscores the importance of maintaining humanity in the narrative, ensuring that the footage does not become detached or sensationalized:
“We stop these scenes that are showed from the body cams and we switch to my camera where I just talk to soldiers about very, very simple things.” ([13:20])
This balance between raw combat footage and personal interactions is pivotal in conveying the soldiers' resilience and emotional depth.
The film delves deep into the emotional landscape of the soldiers, portraying a complex interplay of hope, anger, and determination. Chernov recounts witnessing the unwavering optimism of the troops despite the dire circumstances:
“How optimistic and how strong these men are... as hard as their experience was, as challenging and near-death as their experience was, I never regret doing that...” ([16:36])
He also touches upon the anger that fuels the soldiers' perseverance, rooted in personal losses and the defense of their homeland:
“For them, this is not the source of that anger... the fact that someone came to your house and burned it and killed your friends and killed part of your family...” ([24:09])
This duality of emotions adds a profound layer of humanity to the documentary, highlighting the soldiers' internal struggles alongside their external battles.
Chernov's connection to the region is deeply personal, being only two hours from his hometown, Kharkiv. This proximity intensifies his emotional investment in the film:
“And those are places of childhood, very, very, very familiar. And stepping in those places in those forests and seeing them changed is also part of why I wanted to be there personally.” ([08:42])
His firsthand experience walking the same paths as the soldiers lends authenticity and a unique perspective to the documentary, bridging his personal history with the collective struggle of his community.
The process of sifting through nearly a hundred hours of body camera footage was both overwhelming and emotionally taxing for Chernov and his team. Collaborating closely with editor Michelle Meister, who was also navigating significant personal milestones, added to the intensity of the project:
“It was such a condensed and heavy, but at the same time, important moment in our lives.” ([15:16])
Despite the challenges, Chernov emphasizes the importance of preserving the soldiers' stories and the collective memory of their sacrifices.
2000 meters to Andrivka has resonated profoundly with audiences in Ukraine, eliciting powerful emotional responses during screenings. Chernov recounts a poignant premiere in Kyiv, where families of fallen soldiers and surviving comrades expressed deep gratitude and sorrow:
“After the film was over, everyone came to the stage and it was 10 minutes standing ovation... we were all crying.” ([28:13])
The director aims to replicate this emotional connection with audiences worldwide, beginning with its New York premiere at Film Forum, anticipating a shift in public perception and understanding of the Ukrainian struggle.
Chernov addresses the increasing dangers faced by journalists in conflict zones, highlighting the role of information as a weapon:
“Journalists, filmmakers should not be under any circumstances considered as targets. Our work is to inform, give context, ask questions.” ([19:16])
He emphasizes the necessity of truthful and emotionally engaging storytelling to counteract misinformation and maintain a body of truthful history amidst evolving warfare technologies.
Despite the escalating threats, Chernov remains optimistic about the future of journalism:
“Documentary cinema... is more impactful than shorter form journalism. It is reaching the emotions of people, not just giving them information...” ([21:50])
He believes that collective efforts in storytelling and truth-telling can sustain the integrity and influence of journalism in shaping public consciousness and historical memory.
As 2000 meters to Andrivka premieres in New York City, Slav Chernov remains hopeful that the film will foster meaningful conversations and empathy among its viewers. His dedication to authentically portraying the soldiers' experiences underscores the film's significance as both a historical record and a testament to human resilience.
Notable Quotes:
Slav Chernov on preparing for war:
“Really prepare yourself for war. ... All you can make sure that you have a medical training and charged batteries and a friend next to you...” ([08:13])
On the symbolism of the flag:
“That flag they raise over the village is a symbol of hope.” ([04:27])
Reflecting on the soldiers' resilience:
“I never regret doing that because I was never alone in this. There is sense of community and there is sense of optimism.” ([16:36])
On the dangers faced by journalists:
“Our work is to inform, give context, ask questions. But journalists, filmmakers should not be under any circumstances considered as targets.” ([19:16])
This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the podcast episode, providing a comprehensive overview of Slav Chernov's documentary and the broader implications of war journalism.