2000 Meters to Andriivka

If you think this is a documentary about high tech war in 2025, forget it. With the exception of the occasional drone popping up, this is about infantry war where the soldiers, due to a specific terrain feature, are really tight together. You get to feel close to these Ukrainian troops, and when they die or are wounded, you see it and feel it, because you know who they are. Even when Russian soldiers are shot dead or rooted out of bunkers, you will feel good for the Ukrainians but you don't feel any elation, at all. I fully back the Ukrainians, and seeing this film just breaks my heart that they have had to endure this carnage for three and a half years now, where all they want is to be left alone..

Well, I have yet to screen this I eagerly await it. It's just received an award in Denmark filmmaker has previously received an Academy award. This film follows a Ukrainian platoon battling to retake Andriivka from the occupiers.

The CPH:DOX 2025 jury said, "It's a masterpiece in filmmaking: a haunting, multi layered portrayal of war comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front. But this is not the First World War, it's today. The meaningless of war, and also its unsettling poetry are all on full display here. An artist in amongst bloodshed brings the reality home, and make an anti war film that forces us to reflect on the diginity of each human life lost.'

I didn't leave my seat when the credits rolled. I wanted to stand and applaud, but the film held me in a silence that felt more honest than clapping. What struck me most was the acting: every look, every pause carries the weight of real life. There's no gloss here, no easy sentiment. The boys speak plainly about why they left their lives for the front. We're shown a shot of a fallen boy, and later a mother at his grave-scenes the camera holds just long enough to make you breathe with them, not look away.

Nothing in this film feels staged. It invites you to witness, not consume. By the end you're not thinking about plot points; you're thinking about people-about a world that exists right now in Ukraine, in the 21st century, parallel to our own routines. It's not an easy watch, but it's a necessary one. This is the rare film that keeps you in your seat after the lights come up, gathering yourself before you step back into the ordinary. Don't miss it.

I never thought my country would end up stuck in the biggest war Europe has seen since WWII. And while we bleed out, Western leaders - the same ones who promised us security in 1994 - scroll past our war on their phones. Ukrainians are dying. Not symbolically. Literally. Slowly. Brutally. Why? Because the world decided to monitor the situation.

Let me be clear: if we fall, Ukraine becomes one giant mass grave. The kind of grave Chernov filmed in Mariupol. How long will this war last? No one knows. But history does: 1914. 1939. 2022. Pretending it's not your problem won't save you when the fire spreads.

Andriivka was liberated by Ukrainian soldiers - and then taken again. Every meter of that village was paid for with blood. Real people. Real names. And when someone from your side tells us to make concessions, give away territory, or seek compromise, I imagine that person buried at the bottom of a mass grave. Too harsh? Good. Maybe now you're paying attention.

Do you know what's happening in Ukraine? Really? I doubt it. But if you want a dose of reality - go watch 20 Days in Mariupol and 2,000 Metres to Andriivka. Then tell me again that peace comes from giving in.

Having watched plenty of clips and footage online of the situation in Ukraine, this still managed to be one of the most profound visual pieces of cinema I've ever witnessed.

The combination of the unbelievable helmet cam footage, pieced together with matching perspectives from command & control positions, all of the radio commands between them etc - creates an incredibly gripping viewing. Brillaint storytelling of the human side of the war, the bleak depravity of the situation and nonsensicalness of the state of affairs.

Absolutely essential viewing for anyone capable of watching.

Slava Ukraini.