Reflective Encounters
“When a family unit turns from a trio into a duo, both parties' worlds come unstuck. Told through largely monochrome, continuous line drawings, Velikovskaya takes simplified lines on a journey that elegantly portray the invisible parental dread of letting go of their children as they learn to grow. Velikovskaya is no stranger to novel approaches to filmmaking - her previous films Kukuschka (2016) and My Strange Grandfather (2011) both created unique characters with unusual designs and mixed media approaches to their construction. By incorporating a 3D pen into the animation process, Velikovskaya has brought the classic line drawing of 2D animation into the third dimension, using intricately heated plastic strands that are extruded, smeared, stretched, curled and pulled into a film about family ties.
The uneven and irregular weight of the line created by the use of heated plastic brings to mind the ink drawings of Ronald Searle and the whimsy of Saul Steinberg. The medium and technique are used playfully to create a perfect allegory of the unravelling of a close-knit family as the child leaves home for ventures new. By combining multiple flat 2D replacements within a 3D environment, the filmmaker creates a world full of love and highly effective visual metaphors.”
— Laura-Beth Cowley
Filmmaker Q&A
A Q&A with filmmakers from the It's a Family Affair programme at Encounters Film Festival 2021.
Filmmakers - Joanna Quinn & Les Mills (Affairs of the Art) and Dina Velikovskaya (Ties)
Hosted by Kieran Argo, Animation Programmer.
Filmmaker Bio
Dina Velikovskaya is an animation filmmaker. Was born in Moscow in 1984. In 2005 she has graduated from State Art School n. a. Memory of 1905 with a specialization in scenic design.
In 2011 she has graduated from Russian State University of Cinematography n. a. S. A. Gerasimov (VGIK). In 2015 she graduated from High Animation School-Studio “SHAR” (Moscow). Since 2015 she works at Russian animation Studio ”Pchela”.
During her studies and after she realized some films that won a lot of awards all over the world.