Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Documentary on Bucha Massacre Wins Gold at New York Festivals 2025
The investigative documentary by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) titled “Bucha: The Killing of Self-Defender Pobihai” has been awarded the prestigious Gold Prize in the Human Rights category at the 2025 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards in the United States.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Radio Liberty.
The winners of the 2025 New York Festivals television and film awards were announced virtually during the Storytellers Gala held in New York City on May 22.
This film is the second installment in journalist Dmytro Djulai’s in-depth investigation into the mass killings in Bucha, Kyiv region, during the Russian occupation in March 2022. The documentary meticulously examines the circumstances of the executions and identifies Russian military personnel who are responsible for the death of local self-defense member Oleksii Pobihai.
From the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion, Pobihai, a member of the public formation “Bucha Guard,” defended his hometown as part of the territorial defense, protecting a local supermarket and delivering food to elderly neighbors. On March 13, 2022, during a so-called cleansing operation by Russian occupiers, Oleksii and his comrade were captured, beaten, and taken away. Six months later, their bodies, showing signs of torture, were found near the village of Myrotske, Kyiv region.
The film “Bucha: The Killing of Self-Defender Pobihai” was directed by Dmytro Djulai with graphic work by Yevhen Lubchak and Dmytro Djulai. Additional contributions came from Vladyslav Yatskiv, Kira Tolstiakova, Borys Trotsenko, and Oleksandr Mazur.
Established in 1957, the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards honor excellence in television and film production globally. This year, alongside RFE/RL, winners included major broadcasters such as Al Jazeera English, ARD, Voice of America, ABC TV, PBS, BBC, CGTN, Deutsche Welle, and ESPN.
Last year, the RFE/RL Ukrainian Service documentary “Silent Deportation” about the Crimean Tatar plight also received a Gold Award in the Human Rights category at the New York Festivals 2024.
As The Gaze reported earlier, the 78th Cannes Film Festival has hosted a special screening of three films dedicated to the Russian-Ukrainian war.