LINOLEUM: A Unique Festival Experience in the Heart of Ukraine
Linoleum Festival 2021 was a special event indeed – not only for the reasons I go on to mention below – but also because it was the first live animation festival that Skwigly has attended in over 18 months. To share the festival experience again with filmmakers, animation fans, and festival crew was indescribable and something we’ve sorely missed.
Being in live venues again was a great feeling, and Linoleum really know how to select some of the best, most interesting venues that Kyiv has to offer. The main venue that screenings took place in – Zhovten Сinema – was a 1931 film theatre that was one of the first cinemas in the USSR to have sound equipment installed.
Zhovten Сinema, Kyiv
The week kicked off with an open air screening of the American animated feature Cryptozoo, directed by Dash Shaw, at Kyiv beach, followed by drinks. Coming from the UK, it felt slightly unusual to be up close and personal with people again; but it was easy to slip back into old ways, swapping business cards and contact details again. Taking in a feature film under the stars on a balmy September evening was the perfect start to inspire the audience and ease us into a week of animation.
Opening night screening at Kyiv beach
A little bit about Linoleum…
To give a little bit of background on the festival, Linoleum (in its modern-day incarnation) is now in its eighth year, having launched in 2014, and is the largest showcase of independent animation in Ukraine. (The festival also ran eight times between 2006-2013 in Moscow, Russia.) Taking place in Kyiv every September, the 5-day festival runs lectures, workshops and screenings that celebrate short films from all over the world, but with a particular focus on the Ukrainian scene.
As a country that just celebrated its 30th year of independence, the Ukrainian animation industry is picking up pace and a major factor in that is Linoleum’s continued mantra to ‘promote Ukrainian animation worldwide’.
The core festival team (above), with the 2021 volunteer team (below)
Behind the event lies a key team headed up by festival director Anastasiya Verlinska, and a vast group of volunteers. I must say, the volunteers were some of the most attentive, helpful and friendly I have ever encountered at a festival – there was always someone next to me to translate a Q&A, to recommend a traditional Ukrainian food for dinner, or to relay some piece of historic information about Kyiv; the city they were so proud to share with the international guests.
Following the pandemic, this year’s festival was aptly themed PRESENCE. INTIMACY. TOUCH. which was encapsulated by independent Ukrainian illustrator and animator Hanna Rybak in this year’s visual identity; two characters – Ice and Fire – “striving for intimacy, which is absolutely impossible due to their nature”. (Incidentally, Hanna’s films have been regularly featured in competition at the festival in previous years.)
Hanna Rybak, designer of the 2021 festival visual identity
Ukrainian animation centre stage
Being at a festival that puts so much emphasis on its home grown animation, I naturally wanted to indulge in as much Ukrainian animation as possible. I managed to take in these three distinctive programmes:
The Ukrainian Competition was composed of ten shorts that tackled different subjects and styles. I enjoyed each of the films in this programme, while secretly hoping my favourite – Deep Water by Anna Dudko – would pick up the award come the closing ceremony. However, I was pleased to see it receive a Special Mention, while Unnecessary Things by Dmytro Lisenbart scooped the top prize. Another of my favourites was Bridge to the City by Klym Klymchuk, a simple and playful Claymation piece that was brilliantly executed and oozed such charm.
2021 saw the introduction of the New Faces programme – a showcase of promising up-and-coming Ukrainian animators. This was an encouraging addition to shine more of a light on home grown talent that did not make the official selection this time. With its variety of styles and themes I hope this is a programme which makes it into future Linoleum editions.
My final Ukrainian programme, and one of my favourites, was Retrospective: Eros – a selection of erotic films that “challenge stereotypes about the chastity of Ukrainian animation”. What struck me about this selection was how differently half of the films dealt with sex, eroticism and nudity; those from the early to mid-nineties were much more overt, graphic and playful in their representation. Whereas the more recent films (within the last 5 or so years) were subtler and trod more carefully around the subject. I don’t know what this says about me, but my favourite two films from this programme were 9 ½ Minutes by Serhiy Kushnierov and Big and Small by Natalia Marchenkova, both from the early 90s!
9 ½ Minutes by Serhiy Kushnierov (left), and Big and Small by Natalia Marchenkova (right)
#killmeplease
One of the personal highlights for me was attending the #killmeplease late night programmes. Last year I was invited to curate the same event, but Covid had other ideas, and the programme was only available online in Ukraine. This year, however, there were so many suitable films that we decided to split the programme into two nights; a true celebration of some of the craziest, controversial, and subversive animated shorts from around the world. It was great to finally be present in a film theatre, seeing an audience react together and share the experience.
There were many other programmes that unfortunately I could not fit in: Ladies First: animation about women by women; Commissioned Films, Programmes for children; Focus on Polish animation, two Estonian retrospectives, plus a wealth of VR projects… all of which only illustrate the variety and breadth of animation that Linoleum celebrates.
I couldn’t list all of the films that I enjoyed, so here are 3 of my favourites:
- Table by João Fazenda. This film perfectly summed up the programme Presence. Intimacy. Touch. and reminded us all how good it feels to share company and good food with each other. A true post-pandemic film that doesn’t actually have anything to do with the pandemic.
- Washing Machine by Alexandra Májová (Erotique est Magnifique programme). I have seen this quite a few times now, but it doesn’t seem to get old. The audience loved this one, too – one guy literally didn’t stop laughing when the lights come up! This short it doing the festival circuit at the moment – try and catch it if you can.
- Affairs of the Art by Joanna Quinn. (part of the International Competition programme). I have followed this film on the festival circuit all year, and had many chances to view it online, but decided to wait until I had the opportunity to view it on the big screen. I am very glad I did; it was great to see Beryl and her family back in all their glory.
Clockwise from top: Table (João Fazenda), Washing Machine (Alexandra Májová), Affairs of the Art (Joanna Quinn), Tomek Popakul in conversation with Nikita Liskov
As Linoleum was operating as a hybrid festival this year, there was a live broadcast of many of their lectures (in English) online, which thankfully are still available to watch on YouTube now. I particularly enjoyed the Artist Talk with Polish filmmaker Tomek Popakul, who was discussing his influences and career prior to his 2019 festival hit Acid Rain. You can watch this, and browse the full lectures playlist here.
What next?
In closing – after the awards had been handed out and people were ready to celebrate – there was one parting message that festival director Anastasiya Verlinska passionately delivered: that there is much more to do to promote Ukrainian animation. Despite the success of the festival, despite the many Facebook and Instagram posts that had been flying about for the last 5 days, the message was that filmmakers and the animation community must not rest on their laurels but instead continue to promote themselves, their work, and their industry at an international level. I sincerely hope that her passionate plea is taken to heart as the animation world would be all the more richer for more Ukrainian animation.
I couldn’t review Linoleum without a mention of beautiful Kyiv and how important it was to my (and the other international guests’) experience. It was apparent from day one that the festival team and volunteers were so passionate about their country and really wanted to share it with us. The history, the cuisine, the sights, the culture – and of course, the animation. Kyiv is a wonderful, vibrant city to host an animation festival; and an inspirational place to explore between screenings.
Left to right: Tomek Popakul, Mitch McGlocklin, Anastasiya Verlinska, Simone Giampaolo, Daphna Awadish, Alice Saey, Aaron Wood
Linoleum is one of those rare festivals where you arrive as a curious film fan and leave like you have made a new family; and I would like to thank Anastasiya and her team for inviting myself, and Skwigly, to be a part of that experience.
Linoleum will be taking place in 2022 between 6th and 10th September, while film submissions will be opening on 20th February 2022.
Full List of Winners 2021
International Competition
- Winner – Trona Pinnacles by Mathilde Parquet
- Special Mention – Night Bus by Joe Hsieh
- Special Mention – Self Scratch by Chenghua Yang
- Special Mention – Peel by Samuel Patthey and Silvain Monney
Ukrainian Competition
- Winner – Unnecessary things by Dmytro Lisenbart
- Special Mention – Deep Water by Anna Dudko
- Special Mention – Tiger is Strolling Around by Anastasiia Falileieva
Commissioned Films Competition
- Winner – The Tower by Sunčana Brkulj
- Special Mention – Slow – Black Midi by Gustaf Holtenäs
- Special Mention – Vagonovozhatye – Vovk by Mitya Fenechkin & Mariia Kovalchuk
- Special Mention – The Ribs – I’ll Be Your Toy by Jan Piskač