The tank did shoot the hospital right above the floor we were at, he says.
It hit between the fifth and sixth floors and a patient was killed with that shell.
He remembers feeling his life was about to end.
20 Days in MariupolPBS Diistribution/Everett Collection
A number of those films have gone on to earn Academy Award nominations.
Chernov is not the only Oscar-nominated filmmaker this year to have faced mortal peril while shooting his film.
I was on a motorcycle and filming, Bwayo says.
Ahead, security forces loyal to Museveni had erected a barricade.
They started shooting teargas, bullets.
This military man makes eye contact with me.
And then he puts his gun up, cocks the gun.
I had a camera in my hand, so I just put it up to my face.
And the guy shot.
I hit the ground, blacked out for a few minutes.
I had never felt such excruciating pain.
My face swelled, and I was bleeding, he says.
I just woke myself up very quickly.
And thats when I started running.
And there was a motorcycle going past.
I jumped on it and told the guy to drive away.
And thats how I got out of that situation.
His loved ones urged him to abandon the documentary, he says.
Everyone was calling and saying, Look, Moses, you dont have to do this.
This is a brutal regime.
This is not going to change.
But this story, its a national story.
The story overshadowed the risk.
The family was threatened, the crew was threatened…
I was a woman; I was by myself.
I knew that things were tense.
I knew that it was problematic.
I knew what I was doing was rocking the boat.
I was living in this house on my own, she says.
I was definitely conscious and looking over my shoulder…
OnTo Kill a Tiger, the presence of cameras served both to provoke and protect.
Did they want us to keep filming?
And they didnt, Pahuja says.
They wanted us to keep filming…
They understood that the camera actually afforded them a kind of protection.
They felt that because we were filming, nobody would ever do anything.
They would think twice.
The Ukrainian filmmaker says for countries like Russia, information is a weapon.
He headed there hours before Russia attacked, but not before making last-minute preparations to mitigate risk.
We bought extra spare tires; we bought a lot of food.
Why do you need two spare tires at 3 oclock in the morning?
And my answer was, Well, the war is going to start.
Even if people dont believe you or think youre crazy, these preparations are very important, he says.
And then there were preparations about communication, the backup plans for escape.
Every time you speak to the editor [at AP], it starts from a security assessment.
Whats the closest shelter?
Where is the closest medical evacuation point?
Where is the frontline currently?
And so on and so forth.
I think that allowed us to survive, those preparations and that experience.
He says after his wife twice became the target of attempted kidnappings, he made a decision.
He and his wife took refuge in the United States, where they are raising their 19-month-old son Joshua.
While their software for political asylum is being considered, they can travel within the U.S. but no further.
If I left the U.S. borders, I would never be able to return.
So, Im grounded within the U.S.
But again, it could be worse, he says.
People lost their lives to repression in Uganda, to the regime.
Im thankful for that.
And the attention that the film has gotten is really appreciated.
A sense of a higher obligation took Chernov away from his family to make20 Days in Mariupol.
His youngest daughter was only six months old when the war erupted.
And in that moment, having these records is crucial for Ukraines history and for the worlds history.
