Disney is facing criticism after cutting Ukraine's Oscar win from the international broadcast of Sunday's 96th Academy Awards—leaving residents of the Eastern European nation at risk of missing out on seeing the momentous victory.
During the ceremony, which was broadcast in the U.S. live from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, 20 Days in Mariupol won the award for Best Documentary Feature Film. Directed by a Ukrainian journalist, the film documents Russia's invasion in early 2022.
Accepting his award, Mstyslav Chernov told the audience that the Academy Award win was the first ever for a Ukrainian film. "I am honored, but I will probably be the first director on this stage to say that I wish I had never made this film," he said.
"I wish to be able to exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never invading our cities. I wish to be able to exchange this for Russian not killing 10,000 of my fellow Ukrainians."
Broadcaster Suspilne Kultura TV, which had exclusive rights to air the Oscars for the second year in a row, issued a public complaint regarding ABC parent company Disney over the shortened 90-minute version of the show omitting Chernov's win. Disney also gave Suspilne a license to broadcast the full show.
Lukyan Galkin, executive producer of Suspilne, said in a statement: "Mstyslav Chernov's powerful speech emphasized the unity between Ukraine and the world, and it is all the more disappointing to see the exclusion of this episode, full of truth and power, from the version distributed to the world licensees of the Oscars.
"Recall that last year for the same nomination, in which the documentary about [late Russian opposition leader Alexei] Navalny won, there was a place in an abridged version, as well as for the political speech of his wife Yulia Navalnaya, who accepted this seemingly apolitical award. We hope that the organizers of the award will listen to our protest."
To avoid Ukrainians missing out on viewing Chernov's win, a full version of the Academy Awards ceremony was broadcast by Suspilne.
In a statement of their own, representatives of Disney Entertainment said that the omission of 20 Days in Mariupol from the shortened version of the Oscars broadcast boiled down to time constraints.
As a result of the time restrictions, the Disney representatives said, categories and select moments from the Academy Awards that could be included in the packaged international version had been decided upon several weeks beforehand.
"However, a summary of all missed winners, including 20 Days in Mariupol, was included in the shortened version," Disney Entertainment said.
The film 20 Days in Mariupol features footage shot by a team that arrived in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol hours before the invasion of Russian troops. They spent 20 days surrounded by Russian military before leaving the citythough a green corridor. They left with all of their footage that highlighted the brutality of the war.
Well received by audiences, 20 Days in Mariupol won the Audience Award at 2023's Sundance Independent Film Festival, a BAFTA, and a Directors Guild Award, among many others. Videographer Chernov, writer and photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko also won a Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for the efforts on the acclaimed film.
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