Masterclasses, GameDev workshops, horror animation, Haruki Murakami, and curated film selections — what exciting experiences has the LINOLEUM 2024 prepared for you?
One of the highlights of the LINOLEUM festival is its vibrant (and completely free) educational programme, and 2024 is no exception. Over five festival days, 15 impactful educational events, plus one special industry event, are planned.
- UK/UA Animation Lab Project Presentation: Participants will present for the first time their short films, created under the guidance of experienced mentors from Great Britain. The UK/UA Animation Lab is organised with the support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme, launched by the British Council in collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute.
- Animation Production Pipeline for 2D and 3D: Simone Giampaolo, a BAFTA Award nominee whose portfolio includes work for Netflix, Marvel, Cartoon Network, and Disney, will discuss the stages of the animation production process.
- Intuitive Story Development for Animated Films and Comics: Independent director-animator Malte Stein will travel to Kyiv to share the tools and life hacks he uses to create fictional stories without losing their authenticity.
- What Makes a Good 2D Visual? Luca Tóth, laureate of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and participant in the Cannes Film Festival and Berlinale, will delve into this question. She will also attend the festival as a member of this year's jury.
- TOTAL REFUSAL: Over the Moon – Supported by the Kooperationsbüro Lemberg and Ukraine Office Austria, this workshop will invite you into the world of GameDev. Participants will explore the genre of machinima — films directed within game engines. This experience will offer insights into the basics of filmmaking and provide a critical examination of media in relation to video games. The workshop will be led by Leonhard Müllner and Michael Stumpf. Additionally, the TOTAL REFUSAL team has curated a selection of relevant films, available for viewing before the lecture.
Check out the detailed festival schedule here.
And what about the bonus event? The organisers are planning a major industry gathering that will feature the presentation of an analytical report on key issues in the animation, GameDev, VFX, and CGI sectors as part of the RES-POL project. The event will also include presentations from Ukrainian animation companies and beyond, along with a panel discussion on financing and potential legislative changes in the industry. All industry representatives are welcome to attend.
Of course, the festival wouldn't be complete without its competition programme. A total of 33 films will compete in the largest International Competition, 9 in the Ukrainian Competition, and 28 in the Commissioned Animation Films Competition, all vying for the main prize. Among the contestants are participants of prestigious festivals such as Annecy, Locarno, Berlinale, and more.
We would also like to highlight the premiere of I Died in Irpin, directed by renowned Ukrainian animator Anastasiia Falileieva, creator of the animated series Patron the Dog. This premiere will be featured in the first block of the International Programme, Trauma King.
The festival will also showcase the feature-length animated film Blind Willow Sleeping Woman, based on Haruki Murakami's works. The story follows Komoro, a man abandoned by his wife after the Tokyo earthquake, who takes a week off to deliver a mysterious package to the north. Meanwhile, his colleague encounters a peculiar frog who asks him to save the city from an impending disaster. This film received a jury award at the Annecy Festival.
The audience can also look forward to four curated selections of animated films, all centred around this year's festival theme, Playgrounds.
- Thomas Renoldner reflected on how modern animation reflects reality;
- Love can make things better, but not perfect - a selection curated by Chris Robinson;
- Olga and Michał Bobrowski prepared a selection featuring films where authors used the technologies of their time not just for the sake of innovation but as a playful creative tool;
- While Vassilis Kroustallis prepared Rules and Rituals for Animated Role Play.
This year's festival programme will be explosively intense, so we also draw your attention to two blocks of experimental animation and video art, animated confessions by women for women in the Ladies First block, the comeback of the legendary VR animation programme with the stars of the Venice Film Festival, the creepy horrors of Night Shift, and the works of young authors in New Faces.
Animation for the youngest viewers will be divided into five screenings: a block of cartoons for toddlers aged 3 to 6, children aged 7 to 9 and 10 to 12, for teenagers aged 13 to 16, and even animation created by the children themselves.
LINOLEUM 2024 will open with Lewis Carroll's animated dilogy: Alice in Wonderland (1981) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (1982) — elegant and grotesque animated films directed by Yefrem Pruzhanskyi, based on the works of the iconic British science fiction writer. The Alice series is considered a pinnacle of the creative output from the Artistic Animation Association at the Kyivnaukfilm studio and is also recognised as part of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
The films are preserved in the Dovzhenko Centre's collection and were newly scanned by the Laboratory and Film Fund staff in 2024.
Tickets for individual screenings are now available! Check out the detailed schedule, select your favourites, and plan your festival itinerary across lectures and screenings.
If choosing is difficult, consider a festival pass that gives you access to all 250 short films across 22 programme blocks.
Festival Passes and individual tickets can be purchased here: https://ticketsbox.com/ua/linoleum/
All screenings and educational events will be held from September 4 to 8 in the first innovation park UNIT.City in Kyiv.
Follow the news on the festival’s social media platforms:
LINOLEUM 2024 will be held with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, the Austrian Cooperation Office Lviv, Ukraine Office Austria and the Polish Institute in Kyiv.
Main partner: UNIT.City
Partner of the Ukrainian competition: "Novella" company - the official distributor of Wacom in Ukraine.
Partner: Kyivstar TV film and TV platform
Media partners: 1+1 Media, Kinowar.com, Klap, ProShoKino
