Film screening: ‘20 Days in Mariupol’ and a discussion with the director

May 26 2023

On Wednesday, 31 May 2023 at 7.00 p.m. at Vega Scene in Oslo.
Tickets: Vega Scene

Ukrainian journalist and war correspondent Mstyslav Chernov and his Associated Press team were the only international reporting crew that stayed behind in the besieged city of Mariupol when Russia invaded Ukraine. Their pictures made headlines the world over, as the photographers managed to capture defining images of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
‘20 Days in Mariupol’ is a vivid, gut-wrenching chronicle of the fate of civilians during the siege, a story of what it is like to report from a conflict zone, and a prime example of the impact of this type of journalism around the world.

The film won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival this year, and the film team recently received a Pulitzer prize for their courageous reports from Mariupol. Last year, film director Mstyslav Chernov, along with photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, received a Free Media Award for 2022 from Fritt Ord and the ZEIT Foundation for their valiant, extraordinary documentation of the Russian siege and bombing of Mariupol.
There will be a discussion with director Mstyslav Chernov following the film. Research fellow Oleksandra Hrybenko will introduce the film. Journalist Ingerid Salvesen will be the moderator.
This will be the premier screening of the film in Norway.
Organisers: Fritt Ord, Oslo Documentary Cinema and the Ukrainian Association of Norway

News

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“Farouk tells me something in this film that he has not talked about before, because he has always told the version he feels Norway wanted to hear,” recounts Mustafa, who has Iraqi roots himself.

Read the interview with the director and see the list of grants awarded by Fritt Ord in June 2025.

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Bård Vegar Solhjell (53) has taken over as the new chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board.

Cultural newspaper TBATBA.no and new journalism grants – June 2025

June 19 2025

– Cultural journalism is under pressure. Part of the problem is media outlets failing to cover culture in formats and ways that appeal to people under 30, says Ida Madsen Hestman, editor, freelance critic, and founder of TBATBA.no. Last year, she started the kind of publication she herself would want to read.

The magazine TBA is among those awarded funding in June 2025. See the full list of grants in Norsk Journalistikk.