On September 5, LINOLEUM International Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival announced the winners of three competition programmes: International, Ukrainian and Commissioned films sections.
The Winner of LINOLEUM 2021 is the animated film from France Trona Pinnacles by Mathilde Parquet. It tells a story about Gabrielle, a girl who finds herself stuck near Death Valley between two parents who no longer speak to each other.
The Special Mention of the International competition went to Night Bus by Joe Hsieh. The jury member Fabian Driehorst praised this film for "dense narrative, the gripping atmosphere and the courageous handling of genre rules".
Veljko Popović gave his Special Mention to Self Scratch by Chenghua Yang for its "fascinating visual style and animation approach backed masterfully with a carefully constructed script" and its "wit, humour, introspection and self-expression".
For his Special Mention, Tomek Popakul chose Peel by Samuel Patthey and Silvain Monney. He appreciated the film for "contemplation of ageing, gentle, empathetic observation expressed through masterful drawing skills".
The Ukrainian Competition winner is the film Unnecessary things by Dmytro Lisenbart. It searches for answers to futuristic questions: Could a robot adopt a pet in the near future? Could this pet be a human? Could they become friends? And what would become of the robot afterwards?
The Special Mention from Kyrylo Marikutsa was given to Deep Water by Anna Dudko for "broadening the horizons of Ukrainian animation".
Tory Polska gave her Special Mention to Anastasiia Falileieva and her film Tiger is Strolling Around for "professional performance, visual storytelling and attention to detail".
The Commissioned Films Competition winner is the film The Tower by Croatian director Sunčana Brkulj. It uses one architecture building to demonstrate the fluidity of time and human civilization progress.
The Special Mention in the Commissioned Films competition went to the music video Slow - Black Midi by Gustaf Holtenäs. The jury member Alice Saey noted that it gives the viewers "an avant-garde, stunning, epic audiovisual experience".
Nazar Zhytkevych decided to give his Special Mention to the music video Vagonovozhatye - Vovk by Ukrainian directors Mitya Fenechkin and Mariia Kovalchuk that represents "a powerful cinematic unity with the track and a good trip".
Daphna Awadish also picked a music video for her Special Mention. The Ribs – I'll Be Your Toy got her positive feedback for "the humour, the playfulness and freedom of storytelling".
Throughout five days, thousands of guests took part in LINOLEUM. They viewed seven competition blocks and attended 21 non-competition screenings. They saw 295 films from 75 countries in total.
We are sincerely grateful to each of our guests, speakers of the education programme, and our partners for their support and assistance!
