LINOLEUM: Animated Short Films Screening

This program brings together recent short films by Ukrainian animators working across a lively range of forms and materials.
About this Event

Join us for an evening of contemporary Ukrainian animation, a program of shorts that are surreal, tender, and uplifting. Made by filmmakers working through war, displacement, and everyday life, these films show how much animation can carry: memory, fear, humor, grief, and the stubborn need to belong.

Ukrainian animation is vibrant, formally daring, and deeply human. Whether you're an animation fan, a festival-goer, or simply curious, this is a chance to see the work, meet someone shaping the field, and support the artists telling these stories.

The program includes I Died in Irpin, shortlisted for the Oscars, alongside a range of work from experimental abstraction to intimate family stories.

Special Guest Speaker

Together we will welcome Anastasiya Verlinska, Program Director of the Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, who will join us in person. She will introduce the films, share the story of the Linoleum festival, and talk about the current state of Ukrainian animation. She will also launch a campaign celebrating 100 years of Ukrainian animation, and you'll be among the first to hear about it.

Animations are in Ukrainian with English subtitles. Presentation will also be in English - so everyone is welcome!
Content note: Some films touch on war, depression, anxiety, and loss

Date: October 23, 2026
Time: doors open 12pm, screening starts 12:30pm
Location: QUAD CINEMA (34 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011)

About LINOLEUM
LINOLEUM International Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival is the biggest showcase of short independent animation in Ukraine. Launched in 2014 in Kyiv each year the festival screens around 250 films from all over the world, offers workshops and lectures held by the field's best players and a special program for children.The festival is BAFTA-qualifying and a member of the European Animation Festival Network and the Short Film Conference. LINOLEUM aims to support animation artists and promote Ukrainian animation worldwide. The objective of the festival is to encourage and celebrate creativity among animators and media artists as well as promote contemporary animation and media art in Ukraine

Agenda
Falling out of love
Host: Sofia Komarova

Info: An experimental animation capturing the continuous deformation and sequential transformation of mechanical, industrial, and biological forms within a monochrome space.

Subway Under The Chicken Coop
Host: Hanna Beskrovna

Info: Two boys decided to dig a subway under a chicken coop and got into trouble.

MOTH
Host: Illia Yanchytskyi

Info: In a dark wardrobe, in the land of moths, a dictator is dying! But only you will know how the stubborn little bug will finally be crushed, and by whom.

I Met Papo And Pepe
Host: Viktoria Filmako

Info: A lost girl without a name meets Papo with his dog, Pepe. Through his memories of a distant island, she embarks on a magical journey between dream and reality, exploring her identity. Together, they find liberation and rediscover the meaning of belonging.

Cat's nights
Host: Daria Kozlovska

Info: Two girls and their cat go to the school shelter during an air raid alert.

Talk to Me
Host: Yuliya Tabenska

Info: The film is adapted from her original picturebook of the same title and addresses the difficult subject of depression within a family, told from a child’s perspective.
The protagonists are a child and a mother struggling with depression. The child observes changes in the mother’s behaviour, attempts to understand what is happening, seeks ways to help, and sometimes takes on responsibility.

City
Host: Valeriia Zinevska

Info: An animated reflection on the role of the individual in the ever-changing urban landscape, drawing on Mykhailo Semenko’s futuristic poetry and the realities of contemporary Ukraine. The film draws parallels between the historical rise of industrialisation and modern challenges such as forced displacement, rapid gentrification, and systemic instability. A visual dialogue about the urban environment, which rhythmically shapes collective values and the individuality of life. The result lies hidden beneath the surface of everyday changes, which from the very beginning already carried consequences — whether friendly or hostile.

Etudes of Consciousness
Host: Kateryna Karpovych

Info: Three surrealist études explore the inner world of a human being: a man on the metro struggles against obsessive forces, a young girl loses her balance under her mother’s pressure, and a boy confronts Anxiety but friendship helps him overcome it. Stories about fear, loneliness, and support.

Schmes'
Host: Viktoriia Turetsk

Info: A monster lady named Schmes lives hidden in a basement, unbeknownst to the young couple in the house above her. Schmes longs to be accepted as a member of the family and decides to enter their bedroom one night. But will they be able to accept a strange creature such as herself?

12-Hour Shift
Host: Maryna Dovhanych

Info: An ordinary working day at a metallurgical plant — a place where clouds are born and rivers of fire flow; a place where everything feels like a dream turned into memory. Dedicated to the steelworkers of Azovstal.

?
Host: Anastasia Shtolko

Info: "Yellow Angel, Kor, settles in a new place. One night, he is awakened by the melody of a ukulele played by Blue Angel, Dium. A bond begins to grow between them. They communicate through question clouds and spend more and more time together.

But over time, everything changes. Kor keeps sending his messages but receives no reply. Absorbed in rehearsals with his band, Dium drifts away from him. When Kor discovers that Dium is packing his suitcase and preparing to leave, he stands on his last cloud and watches as the train approaches. He has only one chance left to say what has remained unspoken for so long."

I Died in Irpin
Host: Anastasiia Falileieva

Info: 24th February 2022, my boyfriend and I fled Kyiv to go to Irpin. We spent 10 days in a blockaded city and just managed to escape with the last evacuation convoy. Time passed, but the feeling that I died in Irpin has never left me since.