Film shot in Kharkiv with NUJU’s support wins the Peabody Award

The documentary called Ukraine: Life Under Russia’s Attack was shot in Kharkiv with the support of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) by a group led by Mani Benchelah and Patrick Tombola, has received the prestigious 2023 Peabody Television Award.

The film was shown on the American PBS Frontline channel.

The documentary, shot in the first three months of the full-scale war, tells the story of families who, during the Russian attack on Kharkiv, tried to survive by hiding underground and of the rescuers who risked their lives to help people who suffered from the shelling of Ukraine’s second largest city.

Actress Cate Blanchett provided the voice-over of the fascinating documentary.

Jury members assessed the film as “a vivid testimony of the incredible courage of people who survived a war with no end in sight.”

Earlier, Mani Benchelah sent a letter to the NUJU President, Sergiy Tomilenko, in which he emphasized that the help of the NUJU during the film crew’s stay in Ukraine “was invaluable.”

“Thanks to you, we managed to start working in Kharkiv and get reliable help from local reporter Volodymyr Pavlov,” wrote Mani Benchelah.

NUJU Information Service