I'M FINE! is the project that focuses on the ways to maintain mental health and stay motivated and productive in a world that changes every minute.
According to Forbes, in the modern world, every second person has experienced emotional burnout. However, research does not say what percentage of these people were able to overcome this problem independently. Scientists say that creative industry representatives are most likely to be exposed to emotional burnout.
I'M FINE! is a reflection on the emotional burnout from the best independent animation creators. In addition to animation films, the project presents a series of interviews with artists who share their experiences of going through emotional burnout, as well as workshops and master classes devoted to this issue.
I'M FINE! was initiated by Anastasiia Verlinska, the programme director of the Ukrainian animation films festival LINOLEUM, and Aaron Wood, founder and journalist of the British Skwigly Animation Magazine, before Russia's open military attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022. However, in the context of a full-scale war, the project did not lose its relevance and acquired new meanings. The project's implementation became possible thanks to the support of the British Council within the framework of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture.
"I have been working on the LINOLEUM festival for nine years. And every time, I am torn between two stages: I am burning with interest in the project and work 24/7, and I am absolutely devastated and don't understand why I am doing all this and why I strain myself at work. Sadly, it's not a straight line but a vicious circle, and I still haven't found a way out. When the British Council announced an opportunity to implement a project dedicated to mental health issues, I understood that this was my chance to understand myself and help others. I have heard about similar problems more than once from my Ukrainian friends and numerous foreign colleagues. Now, after almost the fifth month of the war, terror, stress and fatigue are taking over, so the issue of burnout is no less acute than in peacetime. I hope that the films we selected together with Aaron and the speakers who agreed to participate in the project will help balance the emotional state of our viewers and participants. It helped me personally," - Anastasiia Verlinska.
I'M FINE! consists of two short animation films sections:
- the eponymous I'M FINE!– a selection of the most relevant artistic expressions about emotional burnout and creative crisis;
- Sensitive Content, which uses the example of foreign films to depict all the horrors of war and traumas it leaves behind.
In addition to the screenings, the project will include a series of online lectures about burnout and the ways to prevent it. The talk by the two-time Oscar nominee British director Joanna Quinn, who will share her experience of overcoming a creative crisis, deserves special attention.
Joanna and other speakers will talk about dealing with different emotional states, oppressive thoughts and experiences, and overcoming the collective trauma of war. They will also conduct art therapy workshops for people of varying age groups affected by war.
The lectures will be available in the Projector video library.
The first screening of the I'M FINE! programme will take place on August 27 at the British Chichester International Film Festival.
Both selections – I'M FINE! and Sensitive Content – will be available on the MEGOGO media service during the LINOLEUM festival, which will be held online from September 7 to 11. Lectures and workshops will take place in the same period.
I'M FINE! is a project by the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival and Skwigly Animation Magazine. It is implemented with the support of the British Council within the framework of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture.
