Festival

Festival Nickname: 

VAU-Fest

Festival Logo: 

Theme: 

Animation

Art-house films

Digital

Documentary

International

Multimedia

Underground

Category/Format: 

Animated Films

Digital / DVD

Documentaries

Experiment

Short films

“VAU-Fest” (Video-Art-Ukrainka Festival) is the International Video Art and Short Film Festival, which is held annually in the little picturesque town of Ukrainka in Ukraine. Ukrainka is located in the bend of two legendary rivers – the Dnieper and Stuhna. Its geographical proximity to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and to the centre of Trypillian culture makes Ukrainka a unique place for the Festival to be held in.

“VAU-Fest” is entry-free and aimed at presenting the brand new tendencies in the art of cinema. It is an experimental space for both professional and amateur directors and an open platform for discussion. The Selection Committee gives preference to works with ingenious direction that use modern technologies and show inventiveness in cinematography and original editing.

In addition, the Festival has an educational mission – not only does it strive to attract the attention of a broad audience to the masterpieces of world experimental cinema by screening the retrospectives of prominent directors and programs from other international film festivals, but it also provides an opportunity to attend lectures and participate in workshops in order to develop a deep understanding of cinema and practical skills in direction.

VAU-Fest” was launched in 2010 and its first edition, opening with a retrospective of Godfrey Reggio’s “Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance” film, was dedicated to minimalism in art. “VAU-Fest 2011” focused on the pioneers of avant-garde cinema: Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Rene Clair and Louis Bunuel, paying special attention to their first experimental films, which were presented by the French Institute in Ukraine. One of the educational program’s highlights was the demonstration of “Ukrainian Media Art Archive”, marking the 20th anniversary of Ukrainian video art. “VAU-Fest 2011” also organized the Visual Experimental School and opened its space for multimedia installations and performances.

Almost 170 films from 9 countries (Ukraine, Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Germany, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia) were sent to the last year contest. All submissions selected to the competition programme are showed to the Jury of cinema critics and art curators. «VAU-Fest» winners succeeded at other festivals.

«VAU-Fest» presents special screenings from other international film festivals and also provides an opportunity to attend lectures and participate in workshops in order to develop a deep understanding of cinema and practical skills in direction.

“VAU-Fest” is a non-commercial cultural organization, supporting creative collaboration and promoting contemporary media art on both local and international levels. Since 2010 “VAU-Fest” has presented video art works from all over the world and established partnership with several international experimental film festivals, including “Vallecas Puerta del Cine” (Madrid, Spain), “Miden” (Kalamata, Greece), “Videoholica” (Varna, Bulgaria), “Kinofest” (Bucharest, Romania), International Kansk Video Festival (Russia), “Docudays.UA” (Ukraine) and others. The program of the best VAU-Fest 2010/11 films was screened at “Vallecas Puerta del Cine” (Spain), “Lomofest”, “ChernihivPhotoFest”, “Artpole” and “Trypilske Kolo” Festivals (Ukraine).