2000 Meters To Andriivka Exclusive Trailer - A War Film To Define Our Era

Exclusive first look trailer of 2000 Meters to Andriivka by Mstyslav Chernov ahead of its release in UK cinemas from 1st August with a special director Q&A on 17th July at Picturehouse Central.

Following his Oscar for Best Documentary in 2024 with 21 Days in Mariupol, Ukrainian Filmmaker, War correspondent and Photojournalist Mstyslav Chernov is set to turn heads again with another extraordinary missive from the war with Russia : 2000 Meters to Andriivka.

After exposing war crimes and the civilian toll of the Russian invasion in Mariupol, Mstyslav Chernov joins Ukrainian soldiers engaged in the counteroffensive of 2023, the largest military operation in Europe since the Second World War. Blending original footage, drone footage and intensive Ukrainian Army bodycam video, we meet the men behind the staggering numbers we hear on the news and are confronted, second by second, metre by metre, with the impossible decisions they face in the trenches.

Doc Weekly had early access to the film and it is nothing short of incredible. A war film unlike any other, one to define our era.

Chernov and his Associated Press colleague Alex Babenko follow a Ukrainian brigade battling through approximately one mile of a heavily fortified forest on their mission to liberate the Russian-occupied village of Andriivka. 2000 Meters To Andriivka reveals with haunting intimacy, the farther the soldiers advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realise that, for them, this war may never end.

“Outside Ukraine, the counteroffensive was reported in numbers: casualties, kilometers gained or lost, and days since the beginning of the invasion. On the ground, it was more. Every inch of land was covered in blood, broken bodies, and grieving families. And I wanted to show what those numbers really meant.

A Ukrainian serviceman fires machine gun towards Russian positions near Andriivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Aug. 27, 2023. Photo Credit: AP Photo

That’s when we met Fedya and his unit. They were on a mission to liberate Andriivka, a small village on the outskirts of occupied Bakhmut, just two hours from my hometown, Kharkiv. It was surrounded by minefields and trenches, and the only way to reach it was through a narrow strip of forest.
I remember sitting with him and three of his men in the small room of their dorm near the frontline. We shook hands, we smoked, and I recorded some of the first shots of the film. They had just returned from battle and mourned the death of their friend who had been shot in the head. I looked at the maps and their helmet camera footage. I kept thinking about that tiny, seemingly insignificant forest: the battle through it could symbolize the entire 600-mile frontline and the struggle of the whole Ukrainian army fighting for every inch of the land.
A year later, as I write this and the film is complete, only Fedya remains standing among those four people in the room.” - Mstyslav Chernov, Director

2000 Meters to Andriivka received its World premiere at Sundance Film Festival and will be released in UK cinemas from 1st August with a special director Q&A on 17th July at Picturehouse Central.

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2000 Meters To Andriivka is produced by Frontline and Associated Press and distributed by Dogwoof.