Ukraine has selected Mstyslav Chernov’s “2000 Meters to Andriivka” as its entry for the best international feature film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
The film chronicles a Ukrainian platoon’s mission to liberate the occupied village of Andriivka from Russian troops. Shot with a combination of helmet cameras, drones and on-the-ground footage, it provides an unflinching look at modern warfare and highlights the endurance of resistance under extreme conditions.
Reviewing the film for Variety, Guy Lodge wrote: “’2000 Meters to Andriivka’ is a documentary both vigorous and exhausted, propulsive and petrified, with a prevailing tone of anxious fatigue encapsulated by one soldier’s plaintive, barbed question: ‘What if this war is until the end of our lives?’ For too many of his lost peers, it already has been.”
The Ukrainian Oscar Committee said: “This is an uncompromisingly honest and insightful documentary that dives into the reality of the Russian-Ukrainian war through human experience – fragile, exhausting and at the same time full of dignity.”
Chernov, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, previously won the 2024 Academy Award for best documentary feature with “20 Days in Mariupol.” His latest work premiered at Sundance 2025, where he received the best directing award in the World Documentary program. The film went on to collect the F:ACT Award for best investigative documentary at CPH:DOX, along with multiple honors at DocuDaysUA.
“2000 Meters to Andriivka” is produced by Frontline PBS and the Associated Press, with editing by Michelle Mizner. The project continues Chernov’s collaboration with leading documentary producers and distributors, reinforcing his position as one of Ukraine’s most internationally visible filmmakers. He is represented by CAA and Cinetic Media.
Ukraine has been submitting films for the international feature category since 1997 but has yet to secure a nomination. Past entries include Valentyn Vasyanovych’s “Atlantis” (2019), Maryna Er Gorbach and Mehmet Bahadir Er’s “Klondike” (2022), and Antonio Lukich’s “Luxembourg, Luxembourg” (2023). “20 Days in Mariupol” made the shortlist in the category.
The Oscar international feature shortlist will be announced on Dec. 16 and the final five nominees will be announced on Jan. 22.
