The 23rd CPH:DOX (Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival) 2026 audience chose Belgian filmmaker Pieter‑Jan De Pue’s deeply moving documentary Mariinka as the Audience Award winner. Set in a small town on the front lines of the Russia–Ukraine war, the film has quickly transformed into a standout title on the global festival circuit. Audiences and critics praise its poetic yet unflinching gaze at a community torn apart by war, calling it one of the most intimate portraits of the conflict to date.
De Pue shot Mariinka on 16mm film over nine years, tracing the lives of ordinary residents in the Donbas town of Mariinka from peaceful pre‑war days through the full force of bombardment, displacement and loss. The documentary weaves together personal stories—especially of young women and their male relatives—caught between family loyalty and military duty. At the same time, it examines questions of identity, division and resilience across wartime Europe.
Reviewers describe the film as “definitive” in its depiction of Europe’s largest crisis since the 1990s, highlighting its mournful tone and the emotional weight of its decade‑long footage. Fans of De Pue’s visually rich, character‑driven cinema—especially his Sundance‑winning The Land of the Enlightened—recognize Mariinka as a natural evolution of his auteur style, powered by the same 16mm texture and immersive war‑zone storytelling.
The CPH:DOX 2026 Audience Award establishes Mariinka as one of the most powerful non‑fiction films of the current festival season, strongly connecting with viewers who seek both emotional truth and political context. As the festival’s opening film, Mariinka sets an urgent tone, centering human stories amid a flood of headlines and geopolitical analysis.
With its Sundance‑level cinematography and deeply personal narrative, Mariinka now prepares to travel to more major festivals and streaming platforms, where it can reach wider audiences interested in Ukraine war documentaries, contemporary European cinema and socially driven non‑fiction. For critics and programmers alike, the film functions as both an urgent record of the present and a lyrical archive of everyday lives living on the edge of survival.
