DOCVILLE 2026 opens on Wednesday 18 March with the Belgian premiere of the long-awaited Mariinka by Pieter-Jan De Pue. On 10 March, the film will have its world premiere at the prestigious CPH:DOX and after that, it will have a festive Belgian premiere at DOCVILLE. The film will be in competition at both festivals.

Young Ukrainians from the frontline town of Mariinka face a decade of war that divides their families and derails their fates. An epic and visionary journey filmed over 10 years.

Amidst the war a promising boxing talent turns military paramedic, a girl is smuggling unexpected goods across the frontline to survive, and two brothers now fight on opposite sides of the front line – against each other while their youngest brother lives in safety far from the war with a foster family in the United States. Through letters, videocalls and silent meetings, a story unfolds about belonging, national loyalty and the fault lines where political conflicts can trump even the bonds of blood.

Mariinka begins long before the world watched the full-scale invasion. In eastern Ukraine, the film traces several young Ukrainians whose lives have been forever shaped by more than 10 years of war and conflict in the Donbas region.