04.09 | 17:00 (UA-ENG)

Over the past three months, the participants of our joint project together with Skwigly Online Animation Magazine, UK/UA Animation Lab, have received a series of consultations from leading UK mentors. And in September, as part of our educational program, they will finally pitch their projects in development for the first time.

- Short film Cherry Pierogi, directed by Olha Havrylova

- Short film Frescoes of Memory, directed by Oleksandra Dzhyganska

- TV series Daylight Saving Time, directed by Iryna Sosimovych

The mentors will also join the presentation and share important insights into preparing a project for a pitch. The UK/UA Animation Lab project is organised with the support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme, launched by the British Council in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute.

04.09 | 18:00 (ENG-UA)

Within the UK/UA Animation Lab, we'll walk through the production process of a series and a short. Talk about the steps prior to pre-production, such as setting up the pipeline and getting the team familiar with it. Discuss both 2D and CG pipelines and how they differ on production stages. How the team communicates, the review process, and remote working. Simone Giampaolo is a London-based Swiss Director. Throughout his career, he's written and directed over ten multi-award-winning original short films, including the Oscar®-shortlisted and BAFTA-nominated 'Only a Child'.

05.09 | 18:00 (ENG-UA)

Malte Stein will give a general introduction to how he approaches a subject for an animated short film or comic and what are his methods of story development. He will also go into the aspect of abstracting personal experiences, which makes it possible to create a fictional story without losing authenticity. Based on these theoretical explanations, Malte will give an insight into the creative process of some of his short films.

06.09 | 10:30-16:00 (UA)

LINOLEUM is holding a big networking event. On September 6th at UNIT.City, we are bringing together animation, VFX/CGI, and game development market players to meet and join forces in the development of the industry. During the event, the RES-POL project will present an analytical note and significant issues of the sector, and the Ukrainian Animation Association will present ‘Strategies for the development of animation in Ukraine’. Animagrad, KARANDASH, And Action Creative Agency, Moonhauzen Animation Studio, Deep3dstudio, Heroic, FILM.UA Innovations will share their experience of working and running projects during the full-scale invasion. The day will conclude with a panel discussion on financing the sector and the possibilities of legislative changes that will facilitate its development. 

06.09 | 17:00 (UA)

Maryna Kaplun, Head of Content at Kyivstar TV, will talk about the research on how children watch online content and whether they need a separate online space for this; how the Children's profile was created on Kyivstar TV, what are its features and what kind of animation children prefer; features of promotional children's animated content on OTT platforms.

06.09 | 18:00 (ENG-UA)

How can one experience true freedom in a world where the boundaries of action are predetermined by code? Moreover, how can these digital worlds be utilized for artistic expression? The media guerrilla collective Total Refusal invites you to explore the dynamic digital landscape of current big budget games. Together, we will navigate bustling cities and forests, engaging in discussion as we employ a shared practice of deconstructing the game's hyperrealistic mechanisms through subversive interventions. During this workshop, participants will be introduced to the various tools for artistic appropriations and get to know the genre of machinimas – movies that are 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.

06.09 | 19:00 (UA)

Not all AI-generated content is ugly or steals someone's style and makes a big deal about it on Twitter. There will be subtleties that fool you into thinking they're real animation. Using his background as a creative director at and action agency as a basis, Ivan will discuss how, where, and why he began utilising AI in his work. Moreover, it won't take your job; on the contrary, it will become a must-have tool in the industry.

07.09 | 14:00 (UA)

Mykyta will talk about the history of indie games in general and the Ukrainian context of this process. We will talk about the formation of the phenomenon of indie games: how they originated, developed, their current context, and their influence on culture. Mykyta will also share his own experience of producing indie games.

07.09 | 18:00 (ENG-UA)

VIA University College is a university of applied sciences and one of Denmark's largest higher educational institutions. At VIA, we offer professional bachelor's degrees and continuing education certificates and degrees. We educate and further train teachers, social and early childhood educators, nurses, engineers, physiotherapists, designers and many more. Denmark has six university colleges. VIA University College covers the entire Central region of Jutland with eight campuses, where we offer more than 40 higher education programs and a host of continuing and further education courses. TAW is a school attracting creative minds from around the world. Our main ingredient is people with talent and great ideas, and our mission is to help them grow, develop and inspire each other.

07.09 | 15:00 (UA) 

During the festival, we will present 5 Ukrainian indie games that we want everyone to know about. Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia. The creators of Hedenite, Pipunka Adventure, Sand, Floralis, and Croactopia will tell us about themselves, how they came up with the idea for the game and what inspired them, the gameplay, and most importantly, how to create games in the face of a full-scale invasion.

07.09 | 16:00 (UA)

Today, the viewer is no longer passively contemplating the work, but taking on the role of an active participant - a player. The boundaries of conventional media have been expanded by interactive, the concept of immersiveness, avatar and virtual and augmented reality technologies. In the first part of the lecture, we will discuss how game mechanics can be used in cinema, commercial and social projects; what tools are available to authors and how they affect the audience. The second part will be dedicated to the use of augmented reality (AR) technologies for training and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in their development. We will look at how VR simulators contribute to effective training, in particular in the security and defence sector, and how AI accelerates product development and improves user interaction with the virtual environment. We will also present real-life cases of AI and XR technologies combination that were presented at this year's Harv

08.09 | 14:00 (UA)

The experience of creating the first professional short film: mistakes and successes. Due to the closed nature of the animation industry, it is difficult for newcomers to understand how production works, and Iryna went through this journey on her own, filling in the blanks. To make it easier for her young colleagues, Iryna will share her experience of creating her first professional short film, MisundersHood, which was supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The story of the whole path from finding an idea and applying for funding to setting up your own production process that works like clockwork will be useful and interesting for those who want to create their own animated film in Ukraine.

08.09 | 15:00 (UA)

I Died in Irpin is an interesting case in the Ukrainian industry. The short film was created in cooperation between Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, using the traditional charcoal-on-paper animation technique. The film was nominated for the ANNECY festival's Perspectives competition. Anastasia will talk about the entire process of creating the film, from the birth of the idea to the premiere. She will share the stories that were left behind the scenes and discuss the symbolism of the film as well as the animation, which combines documentary and surrealistic visions of reality.

08.09 | 16:00 (UA)

In his presentation, Anatoliу will show how to turn fairy tales into an interactive app with animated pictures. He will talk about the importance of the team, creative decisions, style search, and final implementation in Unity.