Writers Guild of America Honors Ukrainian Filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov With 2026 Paul Selvin Award

Oscar-winning director Mstyslav Chernov has been named the recipient of the 2026 Paul Selvin Award from the Writers Guild of America, the guild announced on social media on February 11.

The Paul Selvin Award honors a guild member whose script best embodies the spirit of constitutional and civil rights and liberties essential to the survival of free writers everywhere.

“I mostly am seen as a documentary filmmaker, but in my heart I’m a writer. So, when it comes to the WGA, when it comes to the recognition of my writing, that’s incredibly precious, because that’s where it all started. II think sooner or later I’ll end up in a little cabin somewhere, just writing, writing, writing because that’s the most precious art there is for me,” Mstyslav Chernov commented.

The recognition comes as 2000 Meters to Andriivka has been shortlisted in the documentary category for the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, according to a shortlist published by The Guardian on January 27.

The documentary has also drawn attention from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2000 Meters to Andriivka was included on the shortlist for the 2026 Oscars in the Best Documentary Feature category, according to shortlists published on December 16, 2025.

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Ukraine additionally submitted the film for consideration in the Best International Feature Film category, though it did not advance in that race. On January 22, it was confirmed that Chernov’s documentary was not among the final five nominees for Best Documentary Feature. The Dutch-Czech film Mr. Body Against Putin ultimately secured a nomination in the category.

The film follows a Ukrainian platoon assigned to push through a heavily fortified forest in an effort to retake a strategically important village from Russian forces. Filmed from the perspective of a journalist embedded with the unit, the documentary portrays the soldiers’ advance across shattered terrain under constant threat, gradually revealing a war with no clear resolution in sight.

Production began in September 2023 and continued for nearly a year and a half. As with Chernov’s earlier projects, the film was created in partnership with Frontline and the Associated Press, with a focus on documenting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier, Mstyslav Chernov’s documentary has been selected as one of the five best documentary films of 2025 by the US National Society of Film Critics.

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