AceShowbiz - The 23rd edition of the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, CPH:DOX, will open from March 11–22 with the world premiere of Mariinka. Directed by Belgian filmmaker Pieter-Jan De Pue (The Land of the Enlightened), this documentary offers a profound look into lives shaped by conflict, marking a significant start to the festival in the Danish capital.

A testament to dedicated storytelling, Mariinka was filmed on 16mm over nine years and will compete in the festival’s prestigious DOX:AWARD. The film intimately explores the human experience in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, tracing young Ukrainians whose lives have been irrevocably altered by more than a decade of war, even before the full-scale invasion captured global attention.

The narrative introduces compelling personal stories: a promising boxing talent who becomes a military paramedic, a young girl smuggling goods across the frontline to survive, and, in a tragic twist, two brothers fighting on opposing sides. Their youngest sibling lives safely with a foster family in the United States, highlighting the war's far-reaching impact. Through letters, video calls, and silent encounters, the film weaves a story about belonging, national loyalty, and the devastating fault lines where political conflicts can tragically trump even the strongest bonds of blood.

The ambitious production was led by Pieter-Jan De Pue via his Savage Film, co-produced with Bart Van Langendonck, Christian Beetz (Beetz Brothers Film Production), and Submarine’s Femke Wolting and Bruno Felix, among others. Key broadcast partners included ZDF in collaboration with ARTE, RTBF Documentary Unit, VRT, VPRO, and SVT.

Niklas Engstrøm, CPH:DOX artistic director, emphasized the film’s crucial relevance. "Mariinka is a film that insists on our attention at a time when attention itself has become a scarce resource," he stated. Engstrøm lauded De Pue’s nearly decade-long commitment to the story, observing, "not chasing the news cycle, but listening to lives shaped by a war that began long before it filled our headlines." He concluded by calling it a "remarkable cinematic achievement that refuses both distance and simplification, presenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine as lived reality, carried in bodies, relationships and impossible choices."