The festival Artdocfest/Riga stands in support of Ukraine and this year once again presents films about the situation in Ukraine, about people’s lives, and about the lasting traumas of war — in the Artdocfest OPEN competition programme, in the out-of-competition programme REAL TALK, as well as in the special screening “Deutsche Welle Presents”.
Four years have passed since the full-scale Russian invasion and the bloody war in Ukraine began. “Many of us have grown accustomed to the war. Some are already ‘tired’ of it. For some, this war has become exhausting, and they are waiting for any kind of peace, under any conditions. But even after ‘any kind of peace’, fragments of war will remain in the lives of millions of Ukrainians. These fragments are already embedding themselves into our living flesh, leaving scars for life. And they will haunt those they have struck until their last breath — whether in the epicentre, deep in the rear, or in exile…,” says Vitaly Mansky, President of the Artdocfest/Riga documentary film festival.
Artdocfest/Riga was the first major international film festival after the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine to raise the alarm publicly.
“It was the first week after the invasion, when Russian tanks were advancing towards Kyiv. We were the first to accept the challenges of this war. We were the first to change the festival colours to yellow and blue. We marched in support of Ukraine. And since 2014 we have been sounding the alarm with films about the approaching war! This year as well, the programme includes films that are important to watch in order to prepare for tomorrow… if, of course, this war has not yet ended for you,” continues Vitaly Mansky.
Today, documentary cinema is only beginning to explore the accumulated fragments left by this war. Such films will be presented in the Artdocfest OPEN 2026 competition programme. Among them is “Traces” by Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk, which recently won the Audience Award in Berlin and addresses sexualised violence committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
Also featured is “Shards of Light” by Mila Teshaieva and Markus Lenz, exploring the post-war syndrome of the de-occupied town of Bucha and its residents.
The programme also includes several films depicting everyday life in wartime. A special highlight is the Latvian premiere of the Oscar-winning filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov’s “2000 Meters to Andriivka”. Shot on the front line — in what is often called the “zero point” in Ukraine — the film elevates the daily reality of war to the level of philosophical and ideological reflection.
This year’s Artdocfest/Riga opens on February 28 with the film “Time to the Target” by festival president Vitaly Mansky. The film was shot in Lviv, the director’s hometown, located in western Ukraine, far behind the front line. Yet it takes only six minutes for a Russian missile carrying a deadly payload to reach it.
Alongside these works, the programme features several other films by Ukrainian authors. In the Artdocfest OPEN competition are “Notes of a True Criminal” by Alexander Rodnyansky and Andriy Alferov, a deeply personal film portraying Ukraine’s history and present through the prism of the family of internationally renowned producer Alexander Rodnyansky,
as well as the animated documentary short “My Grandmother is a Skydiver” by Polina Piddubna, constructed as a unique intergenerational conversation between granddaughter and grandmother about present-day events.
In the REAL TALK out-of-competition programme, held at the Media Hub “Power-Up Space” (21 Merķeļa Street), the European premiere of “Mama’s Voice” by Ganna Yarovenko will take place, along with a screening of “Queens of Joy” by Olga Gibelinda. The special Deutsche Welle screening will present the journalistic documentary “TTargeting Civilians - How Russian Drones Terrorize a Ukrainian City”.
The festival’s partners include the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Riga City Council, Deutsche Welle, the Goethe-Institut, German Films, the Embassy of Poland, the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, the Embassy of Israel, the Jewish Community of Latvia Restitution Fund, Splendid Palace cinema, Tallink Hotel, Media Hub Riga “Power-Up Space”, Zuzeum Art Centre, Benjamiņa House, Rīgas Melnais balzams, Skrīveru saldumi, LiveRiga, Riga Film Museum, Meduza, the platforms Artdoc.Media and AfishaMira, Delfi, LSM and Radio SWH.