A new competition nomination for authors of short AI animations has been opened in Ukraine. It is launched by the LINOLEUM festival and the HOLYWATER TECH company, and Ukrainian artists who work with generative tools as part of the creative process are invited to participate.
A new competition nomination for authors of short AI animations has been opened in Ukraine. It is launched by the LINOLEUM festival and the HOLYWATER TECH company, and Ukrainian artists who work with generative tools as part of the creative process are invited to participate.
According to the HOLYWATER TECH press release, submissions for the new nomination will run from April 2 to July 1 via the Filmfreeway platform. Short animated films from 1 to 5 minutes long, including credits, created or completed in 2024–2026 can be submitted. The prize fund is $2,000.
The organizers emphasize that this is not a formal competition for videos generated by pressing a few buttons. The key condition is that AI tools must be used for at least 80% of the visual material, but the work itself must at the same time contain a distinct author’s vision, artistic concept and creative decisions made by a human.
Not only fully generated films are eligible to participate, but also hybrid formats where AI is combined with 2D, 3D, stop-motion, motion graphics or other techniques. That is, the new nomination is focused not so much on «pure» AI content, but on finding a new language in animation, where technology works as a tool, rather than replacing the author.
This year’s LINOLEUM will be held for the thirteenth time. The theme of the festival will be «The Blind Spot» — an attempt to see what is usually overlooked or deliberately suppressed. It is within this framework that the organizers fit the new competition: as a way not to avoid the discussion about AI in the creative industries, but to translate it into a practical plane.
Separately, the organizers reserve the right to ask authors to briefly explain the creative process and the role of AI tools in the production of the film. This means that the focus will not be on the use of AI itself, but on whether the author managed to turn the technology into a full-fledged storytelling tool.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how HOLYWATER Tech officially left the Genesis ecosystem, currently having completely independent management.
