The Leading Role (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

The Leading Role is a Ukrainian documentary about actors who exchange the stage for military service after war begins. Through their experiences, the film considers how creative professionals adjust to a reality shaped by danger, duty and decisions with lasting consequences.

The Leading Role follows Ukrainian actors whose lives changed when the war began. Rather than continuing solely in the theater, they joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and entered a very different form of public service.

Directed by Myroslav Latyk, the documentary focuses on the adjustment from creative work to military life. Its central subject is the pressure of making consequential choices in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

The Leading Role movie details

Story without spoilers

The documentary centers on Volodymyr Kanivets, Oleh Ivanytsia, Danylo Mireshkin, Oleh Scherbyna and Volodymyr Rashchuk, all appearing as themselves. They are Ukrainian actors who left the stage after the outbreak of war and joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The film examines how people trained for performance and creative collaboration respond to an environment in which decisions can have irreversible consequences. It presents their transition as a personal and professional change without revealing how their individual stories develop.

What to expect

The Leading Role is a documentary grounded in wartime experience, military service and the changing responsibilities of Ukrainian actors. Its premise places the contrast between stage life and service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the center of the film.

Viewers can expect a serious, nonfiction account focused on adaptation under extreme circumstances. The supplied information identifies the Russo-Ukrainian War as its subject context, while leaving the film’s specific structure, interviews and visual approach unstated.

Cast and creative team

Myroslav Latyk directs The Leading Role. The documentary features Volodymyr Kanivets, Oleh Ivanytsia, Danylo Mireshkin, Oleh Scherbyna and Volodymyr Rashchuk, each appearing as themselves. No writers are listed in the supplied credits.

• Volodymyr Kanivets as Self
• Oleh Ivanytsia as Self
• Danylo Mireshkin as Self
• Oleh Scherbyna as Self
• Volodymyr Rashchuk as Self

Release and production context

The Leading Role is a 2026 documentary from Ukraine, spoken in Ukrainian. It has a runtime of 1 hour and 16 minutes and is associated with the production company ТОВ "Рікі-Тікі-Таві". The supplied release date is September 1, 2026, and the film is listed as released.

Production companies: ТОВ "Рікі-Тікі-Таві"

Movies Dock view

With its focus on actors who moved from the stage into military service, The Leading Role documents a dramatic change in professional identity and daily responsibility. Its concise runtime keeps the film centered on that transition and the wartime choices described in its premise.

Film data:
TMDB