Oscar-winning documentarian and Associated Press journalist Mstyslav Chernov has a new film that delves further into the Russia-Ukraine war.
“2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a joint production between the AP and PBS’ “Frontline,” will have its world premiere in January at the Sundance Film Festival, organizers said Wednesday.
Chernov won the best documentary Oscar in March for “20 Days in Mariupol,” his harrowing depiction of the early days of the war. That film debuted at Sundance in 2023 before going on to collect many of the film industry’s most prestigious awards, including from the Directors Guild and BAFTA. The film drew on AP reporting that also won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for public service and featured prominently that same year in a Pulitzer for breaking news photography.
The new film takes place during the failing counteroffensive and focuses on a Ukrainian platoon's mission to try to liberate a strategic village from occupation. They need to traverse “one mile of heavily fortified forest,” the description reads. “But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides.
Kim Yutani, the festival’s director of programming, said she expects audience will be deeply moved by the film.
“It’s an incredible documentary,” Yutani said. “It really takes you into the trenches, literally into the trenches with Ukrainian troops, Ukrainian soldiers, citizens who became soldiers — a beautiful, horrifying portrait of the futility of war.”
The Sundance Film Festival kicks off on Jan. 23 in Park City, Utah, and runs through Feb. 2.
For more AP coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, visit https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
FILE - Mstyslav Chernov poses for a portrait during the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Feb. 12, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
This image released by Sundance Institute shows a scene from "2000 Meters to Andriivka" by Mstyslav Chernov, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Mstyslav Chernov/Sundance Institute via AP)
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A storm that swept up the East Coast delivered a blow to New England, packing powerful gusts that knocked out power along with a deluge of rain and warming temperatures that washed away snow and dampened ski resorts.
An atmospheric river transported moisture northward from the tropics and brought heavy rain. Utility workers were deployed to handle power outages after winds were projected to peak overnight into Thursday.
In Maine, nearly 52,000 customers had lost power as of Wednesday night, according to poweroutage.us. In Massachusetts, nearly 11,000 people were without power.
A deepening low pressure system was responsible for winds that lashed the region, said Derek Schroeter, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
Forecasters were concerned about bombogenesis, or a “bomb cyclone,” marked by a rapid intensification over a 24-hour period.
“Is that what they’re calling it?” said Jen Roberts, co-owner of Onion River Outdoors sporting goods store in Montpelier, Vermont. She lamented that a five-day stretch of snowfall that lured ski customers into the store was being washed way, underscoring the region’s fickle weather. “But you know, this is New England. We know this is what happens.”
Ski resort operators called it bad luck as the holidays approach.
“We don’t say the ‘r-word’ around here. It’s a forbidden word,” said Jamie Cobbett, marketing director at Waterville Valley Resort in New Hampshire, which was pelted by rain on Wednesday. “We’re getting some moist wet weather today. We’ll put the mountain back together."
Skier Marcus Caston was waterlogged but shrugged it off. “The conditions are actually pretty good. The rain is making the snow nice and soft. It’s super fun,” he said while skiing at Vermont's Sugarbush.
New England wasn’t the only region experiencing wild weather. Heavy lake effect snow was expected through Thursday in parts of Michigan, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and dangerous cold enveloped parts of the Upper Midwest.
But New England's weather brought the biggest variety, with the storm bringing a little bit of everything. It started early Wednesday with freezing rain. Then came a deluge of regular rain and warming temperatures — topping 50 degrees Fahrenheit in Portland, for example.
Alex Hobbs, a Boston college student, hoped that the weather wouldn't interfere with her plans to return home to San Francisco soon. "I’m a little worried about getting delays with heavy wind and rain, possibly snow,” she said Wednesday.
Associated Press writers Lisa Rathke in Waitfield, Vermont, Michael Casey in Boston, and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this story.
This Dec. 11. 2024 image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows a storm passing through the U.S. Atlantic east coast. (NOAA via AP)
Rain water from a winter storm flows through the empty parking lot near the Panorama lift at the Gunstock Mountain Resort ski area , Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in Gilford, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A man walks a dog as light rain falls during a winter storm, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Ducks stand on the rain water covered ice on Adams Pond during a winter storm, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in Derry, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A construction worker is bundled up in winter clothes while installing weather sheathing on a building during a rain storm, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in Derry, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A jogger runs along the harbor as rain falls in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood on Wednesday Dec 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
A person walks through the rain as a storm system and possible "bomb cyclone" hit the U.S. East Coast, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
A person walks through the rain as a storm system and possible "bomb cyclone" hit the U.S. East Coast, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
A tractor-trailer hauling a load of oranges sits on the side of the road after sliding off the Maine Turnpike early on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New Gloucester, Maine. (AP Photo/David Sharp)
Rain and snow falls near the Presumpscot River in Falmouth, Maine as officials are watching for flooding on New England rivers, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Whittle)
People walk through the rain as a storm system and possible "bomb cyclone" hit the U.S. East Coast, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
A tractor-trailer hauling a load of oranges sits on the side of the road after sliding off the Maine Turnpike early on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New Gloucester, Maine. (AP Photo/David Sharp)
Passengers disembark from a ferry in a steady downpour of rain in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood on Wednesday Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
People walk through the rain as a storm system and possible "bomb cyclone" hit the U.S. East Coast, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
A tractor-trailer hauling a load of oranges sits on the side of the road after sliding off the Maine Turnpike early on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New Gloucester, Maine. (AP Photo/David Sharp)
