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Ukraine’s “LANDING” Documentary About Frontline Skateboarders Heads to Brussels and Paris Film Festival
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The Ukrainian documentary LANDING, which tells the story of a community-built skatepark in the frontline city of Okhtyrka, will be screened in Brussels on October 27 before competing at the Paris Surf and Skateboard Film Festival from November 27 to 29, according to a press release from the film’s creators.
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Created by a team from the Street Culture Development Center, a Ukrainian NGO based in Okhtyrka in the Sumy region, the documentary follows the creation of Krytka, a DIY skatepark built by local young people amid Russia’s full-scale invasion.
LANDING is scheduled for a special screening at the Beursschouwburg arts center in Brussels on October 27, with support from the European Endowment for Democracy (EED).
The event will bring together European diplomats, institutional representatives, and Ukrainian cultural activists to discuss how youth culture and creative industries can contribute to rebuilding frontline communities and supporting democratic change.
The program will include a screening of the documentary, a panel discussion, an exhibition, and a networking event.
Among the speakers will be Pavlo Ihnatchenko, founder of the Street Culture Development Center in Okhtyrka; Anton Nazarko, co-founder of the Kharkiv-based Some People platform; and Monica Urian, a representative of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC).
Alongside the screening, visitors will be able to explore an exhibition of black-and-white film photographs documenting life in frontline Okhtyrka between 2023 and 2025.
The photographs have been transformed by local children and teenagers using paint, markers, and graffiti, adding color and personal expression to images of a city affected by the war.
Following the Brussels screening, LANDING will travel to France after being selected for the competitive program of the 11th Paris Surf and Skateboard Film Festival (PSSFF).
The festival will take place from November 27 to 29 at La Gaîté Lyrique, a cultural center in Paris, where the Ukrainian documentary will compete in the Best Skateboard Film category.
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The upcoming screenings follow the film’s international premiere at the Suomifornia festival in Helsinki, Finland, where the Ukrainian team presented the project and discussed the challenges facing young people in communities near the frontline.
The Finnish screening received support from several prominent figures in skateboarding and urban culture, including Helsinki Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure Paavo Arhinmäki, professional skateboarder and photographer Arto Saari, and Samuli Heino, project manager for Finland’s national skateboarding team.
Other supporters included Finnish creative director and designer Lauri Vassinen and New York-based documentary producer and director Kate Ferraguto.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian cultural projects continue to reach international audiences through major European events. At the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, 22 books recovered from the site of a Russian strike on the Ranok publishing house’s logistics center in Kharkiv are being displayed as part of an art installation at Ukraine’s National Stand.
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-7c04a9ec14c59f9c1e676742ac5bf021.png "Still from the documentary film “Children. How Russia Teaches to Fight.“ (Source: Ukraine War Archive)")
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-2865137c7f83ccc2b728b2627d93a536.png "Photo of Daryna Udovenko")
-297f7682e47acca2c10a9ec2b55d1668.jpg "Ukrainian director Tanu Muiño. (Source: @tanumuino/Instagram)")