Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius’ Mariupolis 2 won the European Documentary Prize at the European Film Awards, staged in Reykjavik on December 10.
In 2015 Kvedaravičius made the feature documentary Mariupolis and returned to the besieged Ukrainian city earlier this year to be with the people he had previously filmed, and to document the war. He was killed by Russian forces in late March. His producers and collaborators subsequently completed the film.
In Kees Driessen’s review for Business Doc Europe following the film’s world-premiere as a Special Screening at Cannes, he wrote: “Mariupolis 2 doesn’t shock with images of fighting or injuries. What is shocking is the reality of life surrounded by destruction, both the immense destruction that is already present, the relentless destruction that is happening closer or further away, and the constant threat that destruction will strike this place, these people, this very moment.”
Mantas Kvedaravičius (1976-2022) was a Lithuanian-born filmmaker with a degree in social anthropology from Cambridge University. His first documentary film, Barzakh was selected for numerous festivals and won several awards, including the Amnesty International Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2011. His following two films, Mariupolis (2016) and Parthenon (2019) were selected at the Berlinale and the Venice International Critics’ Week, respectively. Mantas was killed by Russian Forces at the end of March 2022 in Mariupol while documenting Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory.
The other nominees for European Documentary 2022 were:
A House Made of Splinters
Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine (88 mins)
Directed by: Simon Lereng Wilmont
Girl Gang
Switzerland (98 mins)
Directed by: Susanne Regina Meures
Written by: Susanne Regina Meures
The Balcony Movie
Poland (100 mins)
Directed by: Pawel Lozinski
Written by: Pawel Lozinski
A March On Rome
Italy (97 mins)
Directed by: Mark Cousins
Written by: Mark Cousins, Tony Saccucci
