The 23rd Docudays UA kicks off in Kyiv: 82 films and 33 Ukrainian premieres in the program

The 23rd Docudays UA, the international documentary film festival on human rights, has begun in the capital and will run until June 12, the State Film Agency of Ukraine reports on Facebook.

“This year's festival theme — ‘Simple Structures’ — is dedicated to the search for internal and social supports that help Ukrainians hold on in wartime conditions,” the statement says.

The opening film was the documentary “The Born Forger” by German directors Erek Bremer and Benjamin Rost, which investigates the high-profile media scam of the journalist Michael Born and raises questions of media literacy and information verification in the post-truth era.

Among the festival's innovations is the establishment of the Viktor Onysko Memorial Award for the best editing in Ukrainian documentary film.

The Docudays UA program includes 82 feature-length and short films, most of which were made in 2025–2026. Among them are 33 Ukrainian films: 12 national premieres and eight world premieres.

Derzhkino noted that the festival presents a strong lineup of Ukrainian documentary films that explore the consequences of war, personal resilience and the rethinking of art.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Angelina Kariakina and Maksym Shcherbyna.

The main offline venues of the festival were, as usual, the capital's cinemas “Zhovten” and Kino42. In addition, 20 films will be shown from June 7 to 11 on the online cinema DOCUSPACE.

The 23rd Docudays UA is held with financial support from the European Union, the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine and the State Film Agency of Ukraine.