In 2026, the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival will be held offline between 30 September to 4 October in Kyiv.

BLIND SPOT is the theme of the 13th edition, and we are starting to accept films for the competition programs.

Blind Spot – is a space or an area that a person cannot see or perceive, even when trying to. In physiology, it is the point on the retina that lacks photoreceptors, where the image simply disappears from the field of vision. In a metaphorical sense, it is the zone of our unconsciousness – the place where we fail to notice our own biases, doubts, or distortions of reality. It is there, in the shadow, that comfortable illusions are born — where each of us chooses not to see what’s difficult to face.

The past few years have shown how easy it is to lose the ability to distinguish truth from manipulation, how fragile our critical thinking can be. We’ve grown accustomed to simple answers, loud slogans, and collective “concerns” that too often hide an absence of real action.

This year’s theme is an attempt to see what we usually avoid — to recognize our own zones of insensitivity in how we perceive the world, politics, and art. To learn to call things by their names and stop hiding behind silence or linguistic clichés. Only then can we regain clarity — in our personal field of vision and in our collective view of the world.

The visual concept will be created by an award-winning Ukrainian animation director, Stas Santimov (Spooky Loops, The Surrogate, Eluvium – Regenerative Being). 

Submitting your film

Authors can submit their works to the International Competition or the Commissioned Films Competition. Films made in any animation technique, including works combining animation with acting and documentaries, are eligible. The animated part should be at least 50% of the film and not exceed the running time of 20 minutes. The films must be produced after January 1, 2025. 

For British-produced films, please note that LINOLEUM is a BAFTA Qualifying Festival.

The program of the 13th edition will also include Ukrainian competition and retrospective, experimental films and video art, animation for and by kids, lectures and master classes, as well as diverse networking events.

Films are accepted via the FilmFreeway festival platform.

The call is open till May 1st.

The festival regulations are available at:https://linoleumfest.com/en/about/regulations 

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Over the past couple of months, Skwigly and Linoleum Festival have been working hard to bring a series of free online lectures on six topics regarding the development your animation project; whether short film or TV series, whether 2D, 3D or stop motion.

As part of the UK/UA Animation Lab initiative, the talks were given by industry experts Simone Giampaolo, Fokion Xenos, Helen Brunsdon, Olivier Catherin, Kasia Gromadzka, and Britt Raes; and aimed to give a better understanding of how the industry works, how to pitch a project, how to promote yourself, and more.

We are pleased to announce that all the lectures are now available online for you to watch in your own time Please feel free to share them, and we hope you find them helpful!

Animation Production Pipeline (for 3D and 2D Projects) – with Simone Giampaolo

Simone walks us through the production process of a series and a short, talking about the steps prior to pre-production, such as setting up the pipeline and getting the team familiar with it. Discussing both 2D and CG pipelines and how they differ on production stages. How the team communicates, the review process, and remote working.

Preparing an Animation Pitch Deck & Presentation – with Fokion Xenos

Fokion looks at topics such as how to structure a pitch deck and presentation, important information to cover in a pitch, how much detail to go into, how long should it be, pitching a series verses a short film, what makes a great pitch deck, and tips for presenting.

Animation Budgets: Considerations & Practices for TV Series & Short Film Budgets – with Helen Brunsdon

This talk focuses on putting together a budget document, touching upon key production items to consider, considerations outside of production costs, difference between short film verse TV series budgets, and scheduling.

Funding Possibilities & Co-Productions – with Olivier Catherin

In this lecture, Olivier explores reasons to co-produce, advantages & disadvantages of co-pro, how to find partners and what to keep in mind when looking for them, finance strategies and funding opportunities in the present climate.

Forming the Team, Their Roles & Responsibilities – with Kasia Gromadzka

Kasia walks us through the process and considerations of putting together a team; highlighting the key roles in a production and what they do, the structure of a production team, and how it differs between short film and TV series.

Festivals & Forums: Promoting Your Film – with Britt Raes

In the final lecture in the series, Britt looks at how to present your personal brand and your film, how to stand out from the crowd, festival strategies, and other self promotional tips.

The project “UK/UA Animation Lab” is organised with the financial support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme designed by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute. The UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme aims to continue and strengthen the collaborations that have emerged between UK and Ukrainian cultural organisations as a result of or in parallel to the UK/Ukraine Cultural Season 2022-2023.

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In March, Skwigly announced the UK/UA Animation Lab programme in partnership with LINOLEUM Animation Festival – a project that aims to foster the development of the Ukrainian animation industry, especially up and coming young talent. Following a successful call-for-projects, we matched three Ukrainian animators with three British directors and we are pleased to say the mentorship programme is in full swing, with the participants pitching their projects at both LINOLEUM (Ukraine) in September, and Manchester Animation Festival (UK) in November.

We can now announce the six FREE online lectures that will be taking place this autumn as part of the UK/UA Animation Lab programme for all animation professionals; both in Ukraine and internationally.

The series of lectures will last approx. 75-minutes, including a Q&A, and will take place every other Wednesday afternoon (4pm UK time); aiming to give a better understanding of how the industry works, how to pitch a project, how to promote yourself, and more.

How to watch

All lectures will be streamed via the LINOLEUM YouTube channel at the date and time specified below – and don’t worry, we will be re-posting the link to watch on our social media channels leading up to each lecture!

Free Online Lectures & Dates

Animation Production Pipeline (for 3D and 2D Projects) Wednesday 4th September, 4pm (UK time) / 6pm (Kyiv time) Speaker: Simone Giampaolo We will walk through the production process of a series and a short, talking about the steps prior to pre-production, such as setting up the pipeline and getting the team familiar with it. Discussing both 2D and CG pipelines and how they differ on production stages. How the team communicates, the review process, and remote working. Click here to join the talk live, or set a notification.

Preparing an Animation Pitch Deck & Presentation Wednesday 18th September, 4pm (UK time) / 6pm (Kyiv time) Speaker: Fokion Xenos We will look at topics such as how to structure a pitch deck and presentation, important information to cover in a pitch, how much detail to go into, how long should it be, pitching a series verses a short film, what makes a great pitch deck, and tips for presenting.

Animation Budgets: Considerations & Practices for TV Series & Short Film Budgets Wednesday 2nd October, 4pm (UK time) / 6pm (Kyiv time) Speaker: Helen Brunsdon This talk will focus on putting together a budget document, touching upon key production items to consider, considerations outside of production costs, difference between short film verse TV series budgets, and scheduling.

Funding Possibilities & Co-Productions Wednesday 9th October, 4pm (UK time) / 6pm (Kyiv time) Speaker: Olivier Catherin In this lecture, we will explore reasons to co-produce, advantages & disadvantages of co-pro, how to find partners and what to keep in mind when looking for them, finance strategies and funding opportunities in the present climate.

Forming the Team, Their Roles & Responsibilities Wednesday 30th October, 4pm (UK time) / 6pm (Kyiv time) Speaker: Kasia Gromadzka We will walk through the process and considerations of putting together a team; highlighting the key roles in a production and what they do, the structure of a production team, and how it differs between short film and TV series.

Festivals & Forums: Promoting Your Film Wednesday 6th November, 4pm (UK time) / 6pm (Kyiv time Speaker: Britt Raes The final talk in the series will look at how to present your personal brand and your film, how to stand out from the crowd, festival strategies, and other self promotional tips.

The project “UK/UA Animation Lab” is organised with the financial support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme designed by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute. The UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme aims to continue and strengthen the collaborations that have emerged between UK and Ukrainian cultural organisations as a result of or in parallel to the UK/Ukraine Cultural Season 2022-2023.

The post Announcing 6 Online Industry Lectures on Developing Your Animation Project – UK/UA Animation Lab appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

We are pleased to announce the final participants of the joint project we are running with LINOLEUM Festival – UK/UA Animation Lab – the initiative that aims to foster the development of the Ukrainian animation industry!

Winning Projects

Cherry Pierogi (Short film)

Directed by Olha Havrylova 

Synopsis: The narrative unfolds through the lens of a child who perceives the carefree world around her as commonplace. Yet, subtle nuances within the idyllic scene offer glimpses into less cheerful events in the elderly woman’s life.

Cherry Pierogi – by Olha Havrylova

Frescoes of Memory (Short film)

Directed by Alexandra Dzhiganskaya

Synopsis: The film Frescoes of Memory tells a story of my grandmother Kira based on an actual interview recorded in her home in Bessarabia, the distant south of Ukraine. She talks about her experiences growing up as a Bulgarian minority after the region was occupied by the Soviet Union and foreign Russian language suddenly was imposed on her and the whole village.

Frescoes Of Memory – by Alexandra Dzhiganskaya

Daylight Saving Time Transition (TV Series)

Directed by Iryna Sosimovych

Synopsis: The series is part of a project within the Illogical Adult World universe. This is a 3-part series about 3 friends – children who are about to become teenagers – who are looking for adventures during spring break.

Daylight Saving Time Transition – by Iryna Sosimovych

The filmmakers will have mentoring sessions with British industry experts, who will be announced in due course.

We would also like to remind our readers that in autumn we will be holding a series of lectures on the production and promotion of animated films. These are free to attend and more information will be released closer to the time.

UK/UA Animation Lab is organised with the financial support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme designed by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute.

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Skwigly Animation Magazine, in partnership with LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, and with the support of the British Council Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute, announces the call for Ukrainian short films and TV series in development for the UK/UA Animation Lab.

The project aims to foster the development of the Ukrainian animation industry, especially young talent, after the stagnating effect caused by the Russian invasion. The lab will focus on helping artists understand the best industry practices when it comes to developing and promoting their animated project; from the early stages of pitching, to successful self-promotion and international distribution.

Participants will have four weeks to submit their project (4th March – 1st April). From the submitted applications, mentors will select three projects, whose representatives (director or producer) will:

• Develop their project ahead of the production period
• Create a successful pitch deck for presentation to potential co-producers, with the participation of British producers and directors
• Present the project at the LINOLEUM festival in Kyiv (September 4-8th)
• Present the project at a UK animation festival T.B.C (October-December)

The deadline for project submission is 1st April 2024.

You can fill the application via this link https://cutt.ly/3wC956HR

The organizers reserve the right not to inform the participants about the reasons for refusal.

Free online lectures for all

Aside from the mentorship programme, the lab will include a series of free online lectures held by international speakers on: forming the team, roles and responsibilities of various team members; creating and managing a production budget; funding possibilities for co-production; ways of promoting your film, visiting festivals and forums; preparing a pitch deck/presentation.

This series of lectures will give a better understanding of how the industry works and will be valuable for all animation newcomers; both in Ukraine and internationally.

The project “UK/UA Animation Lab” is organised with the financial support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme designed by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute. The UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme aims to continue and strengthen the collaborations that have emerged between UK and Ukrainian cultural organisations as a result of or in parallel to the UK/Ukraine Cultural Season 2022-2023.

The post Skwigly Partner with LINOLEUM Festival for Ukrainian Animation Mentor Scheme | Call for Projects appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.