03.10 | 13:00 (UA), UNIT.Coworking B.9

Filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk and artist Lia Mchedlishvili will present the upcoming feature-length animated film RED ZONE, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the project while it is still in development. The session will include a screening of the full animation test, followed by a conversation about the film’s story, directorial approach and the process of developing its visual language. Iryna will introduce the project and discuss how she approaches storytelling and directing within animation, while Lia will focus on the creation of backgrounds, visual development and her work as art director of the animation test.

Using the test as a practical case study, they will explore how a director’s vision and script gradually translate into images: from locations, colour and composition to atmosphere and the relationship between characters and their environment. They will also discuss the collaboration between the director and the art team, the decisions and experiments behind the test, and how this stage informs the further development and production of a feature-length animated film.

Iryna Tsilyk — Ukrainian filmmaker, writer and screenwriter. Her feature documentary debut The Earth Is Blue as an Orange won the Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and went on to screen at numerous international festivals. She is also the director of the fiction feature Rock. Paper. Grenade. (I and Felix). She is currently developing the feature-length animated film RED ZONE.

Lia Mchedlishvili — animation artist and background designer working across feature films, short films and series. Her practice focuses on backgrounds, layouts and the creation of visual environments for animation. On RED ZONE, she works on the film’s backgrounds and served as Art Director of the animation test, collaborating closely with the director on developing the project’s visual world.