THE UKRAINIAN VILLAGE

In a time when the refugee shelters are strained and the housing market is at a standstill, the municipality of Vlaardingen (the Netherlands) is quickly building a new neighborhood for a thousand Ukrainian displaced persons. Can this place become a home for people who have fled war, and can they expect a warm welcome? The neighborhood has been named Mrija, which is Ukrainian for dream. And this pilot project sounds like a dream project too. If successful, the formula can be applied elsewhere. But is it really feasible to house a thousand refugees in one place? How do local housing seekers view this situation? And what will happen to all the residents of Mrija after July 2026, when the neighborhood is scheduled to be dismantled for the construction of a water purification plant? In this workshop, the makers of a brand new documentary film about this ‘Ukrainian village’ will take you along in some fragments of the film, followed by a discussion with filmmakers Jack Westerlaken, Lennart Rooijakkers and Turkawi Muhammad, moderated by writer Chris Keulemans.