Oscar-winning director Mstyslav Chernov embeds himself in a Ukrainian brigade struggling through a dense forest to liberate a village from Russian forces. As they progress through dangerous no-man’s land, the soldiers come face to face with total war.

Though Andriivka is all but destroyed, bombed into near-oblivion by the Russians, its strategic importance cannot be understated. A platoon tries to push through 2000 meters of mined forest, and along the way, witnesses the unchecked brutality of their oppressors, they reflect on their lives before the war and wonder if this conflict is going to descend into a generations-long battle, with no victors. From the director of 20 Days in Mariupol, which astonished MSPIFF audiences in 2023 and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, comes an intense and personal look at the front lines in Ukraine’s battle for freedom against Russia. For this picture, Chervov won the Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Content advisory: mature themes, violence of war