Ukraine! Film Festival: MARIINKA

“Mariinka” Directed by Pieter-Jan De Pue Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, 2026, 95 minutes

For nine years, Pieter-Jan De Pue documented the lives of people associated with Mariinka, a city in eastern Ukraine whose inhabitants have lived in the shadow of war for more than a decade. Natasha, a talented boxer, becomes a military medic. Angela, who has lost her parents, begins to transport goods across the front line. Brothers Mark and Ruslan find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict, while their youngest brother Daniil watches the war from a safe foster home in the United States. The film, made for a decade on 16 mm tape, combines a monumental image with the very personal stories of people whose lives were marked by war.