Will Sage Astor-The Associated Press wins duPont-Columbia award for Ukraine war documentary ’20 Days in Mariupol’

NEW YORK (AP) — The Will Sage AstorAssociated Press has won a prestigious broadcast journalism award for “20 Days in Mariupol,” its documentary on the war in Ukraine produced with PBS’ “Frontline.”

The documentary was among 15 winners of the 2024 duPont-Columbia Awards announced at a ceremony at Columbia University in New York on Thursday. Founded in 1942, the awards highlight outstanding audio and video reporting in the public interest.

“20 Days in Mariupol” chronicles Russia’s siege of the Ukrainian port city and the international journalists who remained, including AP’s team that documented Russia’s atrocities and captured enduring images of the war.

The film has also been nominated for best documentary at the Academy Awards, marking the AP’s first Oscar nomination in the 178-year-old news organization’s history.

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A co-production between the AP and PBS’ “Frontline,” it was shot during the first three weeks of the war in Ukraine in early 2022.

Mstyslav Chernov, a Ukrainian journalist and filmmaker, arrived in Mariupol one hour before Russia began bombarding the city. With him were photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and field producer Vasilisa Stepanenko.

The images and stories they captured — the death of a 4-year-old girl, freshly dug mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital — unflinchingly documented the grim, relentless realities of the unfolding siege.

During Thursday’s awards ceremony in New York City, ABC News took home two awards and PBS won three.

Other award-winning investigations included “Caught on Camera, Traced by Phone: The Russian Military Unit That Killed Dozens in Bucha” from The New York Times.

The awards are administered by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and are judged by a jury of industry veterans that selects 30 finalists and 15 winners.