FRONTLINE Wins Overseas Press Club Award; Earns Two Citations

FRI, MARCH 22 — The Overseas Press Club of America announced today that 20 Days in Mariupol, the acclaimed documentary from FRONTLINE — the PBS documentary series produced at GBH in Boston — and The Associated Press has been recognized with a 2024 OPC Award.

The documentary, which won an Academy Award® for Documentary Feature Film earlier this month, was honored with the Peter Jennings Award for the best TV, video or documentary about international affairs.

A visceral, first-person view of the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 20 Days in Mariupol is told through the perspective of Ukrainian filmmaker and AP video journalist Mstyslav Chernov. The film follows Chernov and his AP colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko as they become the last international journalists reporting from Mariupol as Russian forces close in. The journalists, who would go on to win a 2023 Pulitzer Prize, document some of the most indelible images of the war: dying children, mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and more.

20 Days in Mariupol made its world premiere in January 2023 at the Sundance Film Festival and received the festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition Audience Award. The film has garnered numerous accolades, including the BAFTA for best documentary, the DGA Award for “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary,” two Critics Choice Documentary Awards, a Cinema Eye Honors Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)’s NPO Audience Award.

Following a decorated run on the film festival circuit, 20 Days in Mariupol had its U.S. broadcast premiere on PBS stations in November 2023 and is now available to stream online at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App, on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel and on the PBS Documentaries Amazon Prime Channel. The documentary is distributed domestically by PBS.

The Overseas Press Club of America also acknowledged two other FRONTLINE documentaries: a Peter Jennings Award citation for the three-part documentary series America and the Taliban , and a citation for Inside the Iranian Uprising for the Joe and Laurie Dine Award for best international reporting dealing with the human condition.

America and the Taliban draws on decades of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with Taliban and U.S. officials. Directed and produced by Marcela Gavira and Martin Smith, this epic three-part investigation traces how America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan culminated in Taliban victory and examines the missteps and consequences.

Inside the Iranian Uprising, by director and producer Majed Neisi and producers Sasha Joelle Achilli and James Allnutt, goes inside an uprising that rocked Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody, shedding new light on a regime under unprecedented pressure.

“It’s an honor to have 20 Days in Mariupol be recognized by the Overseas Press Club. We’re proud to bring critical, impactful journalism like this to our PBS audiences,” says Raney Aronson-Rath, FRONTLINE editor-in-chief and executive producer. “We share this award with our intrepid colleagues at The Associated Press — especially Mstyslav Chernov, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Evgeniy Maloletka — as well as the film’s producers Michelle Mizner and Derl McCrudden. ”

“We also congratulate Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith for their Peter Jennings Award citation for America and the Taliban, and Majed Neisi, Sasha Joelle Achilli and James Allnutt for their Joe and Laurie Dine OPC citation for Inside the Iranian Uprising,” Aronson-Rath added. “And, as always, we’re grateful to PBS, CPB and GBH for championing FRONTLINE’s journalism.”

Founded in 1939, the OPC describes itself as America’s oldest, largest association of journalists engaged in international news. Its annual awards recognize excellence in international news coverage.

The OPC Awards will be presented on April 25 in New York City. To date, FRONTLINE has won 19 OPC Awards. You can find a full list of the 2023 Overseas Press club winners here, and watch our recognized documentaries below:

20 Days in Mariupol (credits)

America and the Taliban (credits) Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Inside the Iranian Uprising(credits)