New Voices in Ukrainian Animation at “1000 Minutes of Student Cinema”

The cultural and educational project “1000 Minutes of Student Cinema” has returned to the Dovzhenko Center Cinema Lecture Hall. On August 21, another special screening took place, this time focusing on the work of student and graduate animators from the Institute of Screen Arts of the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Karyi University of Theatre, Cinema and Television. 

The program was dedicated to students and graduates of the Animation Film Directing specialization. As part of the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Ukrainian animation, the KREM team, with the support of Olena Kasavina, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Film and Television Directing and Dramaturgy, prepared a selection of student works that reflected the diversity of animation created over the past five years. 

The screening was introduced by Vladyslav Bebeshko, a fourth-year Film Studies student, who highlighted what made this screening particularly distinctive: the audience was able to see more than 20 films in just an hour and a half. The selection opened symbolically with “Cherry Orchard”, a film completed by students during the first weeks of the full-scale invasion and dedicated to Taras Shevchenko on the occasion of his birthday. 

The program brought together films created in a wide range of styles, moods, and artistic approaches. The selection included interpretations of well-known proverbs, reflections on the experience of war, psychological explorations of personal identity, narrative stories featuring animals, and experimental works centered around geometric shapes. 

In total, the program featured 29 films of varying lengths. The works explored themes of friendship, trauma, care, relationships, history, and identity, expressed through vivid imagery and the distinctive possibilities of animation. 

As is traditional, the screening was followed by a discussion with the filmmakers. Participants included Veronika Trushyna, director of “Me”; Vasyl Mudryi, director of “I Know That I Know Nothing”; Olesia Kovner, director of “Rebound”; Sofiia Sherstiuk, director of “The Ballerina”; Illia Chepurnov, director of “Frog Friend”; and Mykyta Ostapets-Strelbytskyi, director of “The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars”, who is now taking on a new role as a first-year course mentor in the Animation Film Directing program. 

For the filmmakers, the event offered a valuable opportunity to hear audience reactions outside the academic environment and to see how their works resonated with viewers. For the audience, it was a chance to discover emerging animation directors and become acquainted with their individual artistic voices. 

The discussion was also joined by current course mentors Olena Kasavina and Oksana Karpus, as well as Senior Lecturer Valentyna Kostylieva. The event thus brought together several generations of animators, demonstrating how the field continues to evolve while creating space for new voices to emerge and for professional and personal experience to be passed on.

The screening series will return to the Dovzhenko Center on August 28, continuing to showcase the work and creativity of contemporary Ukrainian students.

The cultural and educational project “1000 Minutes of Student Cinema” is implemented by the Institute of Screen Arts of the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Karyi University of Theatre, Cinema and Television and the KREM student cultural and educational platform “Personnel Reserve of Screen Arts,” with the support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency. 

The project’s general partner is the Dovzhenko Center. Partners include Multiplex, Ukraine’s largest cinema network; Patriot Rental; Film Crew Academy; the “Watch Ukrainian” Association; and Sense Hub by Sense Bank. 

Photographer: Mariia Azizova 
Text by: Vladyslav Bebeshko