BELGIAN COMPETITION

Spanning over a decade of dedication, the film stands as a testament to long-term artistic commitment. De Pue’s use of analog cinematography—at times shooting in active trenches with a 16mm camera—results in images that are both raw and hauntingly poetic. The texture of the medium deepens the sense of time, memory, and fragility that runs throughout the film.

Through meticulous editing, past and present are interwoven: scenes of devastation collide with almost dreamlike and hopefull fragments from earlier years, creating a disorienting yet profoundly affecting temporal landscape. This interplay not only reflects the rupture caused by war, but also the persistence of youth, friendship, and memory against it.

At its core, Mariinka is a coming-of-age story shaped under extreme circumstances. It reveals multiple layers of what it means to grow up in a war zone—where violence becomes routine, where war risks turning into a job, even a purpose in life when all else is taken away, and where the boundaries between survival and identity blur. The film captures the complexity of these lived realities without simplification.

Beyond its immediate context, the film resonates as a broader metaphor for contemporary society: a world marked by loneliness, division, and systemic injustice. Yet within this, it foregrounds connection—how bonds are formed beyond blood ties, how shared experience forges a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, and how, despite everything, human empathy persists. All mothers, the film reminds us, carry the same pain. (Loved that quote in the beginning)

Importantly, this is not a closed story. The war continues, and so do the lives within it. Mariinka remains open-ended, reflecting a reality that is still unfolding—sadly not only in Ukraine, but as a warning of a fragility that extends far beyond its borders.

For its powerful synthesis of form and content, its emotional and political depth, and its unwavering commitment over time, the jury honors Mariinka as a work of urgency and cinematic precision.

We would like to give a special mention to a film that masterfully walks a tonal tightrope. Like its charismatic protagonist, it approaches a heavy, emotional, and universal subject with both lightness and sensitivity.

At the same time, the film engages with themes of the transgenerational impact of migration, transnational identity, and the search for belonging within a community. It also reflects on how grief—and the rituals surrounding it—has increasingly become entangled in our capitalist systems.

For making us reflect on a topic many prefer to avoid, and for striking a compelling balance between humor and authentic storytelling, this special mention goes to Volkan Üce for 2m².