Sunflower Field
Under the shadowy threat of war, a young Ukrainian girl awaits a call from her father. As she waits, the day turns into night and she sinks into various dreamscapes from which she must find her way home.
With this award-winning film we explore the impact war and conflict have on young children, and show that children have both the agency and ability to connect with the complexities of life. This is also a film about finding hope in the midst of loss and fear.
Woodstock Film Festival - BEST SHORT ANIMATION (OSCAR-QUALIFYING)
NFFTY - AUDIENCE AWARD
Social Justice Film Festival - SILVER AWARD FOR SHORT NARRATIVE
BIG SYN International Film Festival - SPECIAL MENTION AWARD
Best Animation - PANO NETWORK SHORTS SHOWCASE
CREDITS:
Director/Writer/Producer: Polina Buchak
Producer: Camila Grimaldi, Ser Nocturna
EP: Shruti Ganguly, Rachel Kessler, Ivanna Sakhno
Animator: Mulan Fu
Assistant Animator: Julia Wang
Sound Design & Mix: Serhii Avdieiev
Voice Over: Katia Chapin, Polina Buchak
Music Courtesy of: Maryna Krut
Music Supervisor: Brittany Douziech
Archive News courtesy of Voice of America (Ukraine)
PAST SCREENINGS:
WORLD PREMIERE - MARCH 23, 2023 | ALLEN THEATRE | 5:OOPM | CLE, OH
ONLINE CIFF STREAMS - APRIL 2, 2023 - APRIL 9, 2023
NFFTY - APRIL 30, 2023 | SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN | 12:45PM | SEATTLE, WA
ONLINE NFFTY - APRIL 30, 2023 - MAY 7, 2023
CORDILLERA INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST - July 28th, 2023 | GALAXY LUXURY THEATER | 3:15PM | RENO, NV
WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 1, 2023 | WOODSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER | 4:00PM | WOODSTOCK, NY
SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 12, 2023 | NORTHWEST FILM FORUM | 8:30PM
SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 16 - 22 | ONLINE STREAM
NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 16, 2023 | The Lot 2 | 4:00PM
MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 26, 2023 | CLAIRIDGE CINEMA 4 | 7:45PM
MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 28, 2023 | CLAIRIDGE CINEMA 5 | 7:45PM
TBILISI INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL - NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | 4:00PM
ANIMARTE (RIO DE JANEIRO) - NOVEMBER 9 | 9PM | ESTAÇÃO NET BOTAFOGO
PITTSBURGH SHORTS FESTIVAL - NOVEMBER 18, 2023 | HARRIS THEATER
SHORTS NOT PANTS FILM FESTIVAL - NOVEMBER 18, 2023 | CARLTON CINEMA 8 (TORONTO) | 1:00PM
VAIL FILM FESTIVAL - DECEMBER 9, 2023 | CHASING RABBITS RABBIT HOLE | 12:50PM
AMERICAN CINEMTHEQUE - JANUARY 10, 2024 | LOS FELIZ 3 | 7:OOPM | LA, CALIFORNIA
JUSTICE FILM FESTIVAL - FEBRUARY 24, 2024 | FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | 5:3OPM | NY, NY
PANO Shorts Showcase - MARCH 19, 2024 | NYU Tisch | 6:30PM
CARDIFF ANIMATION FESTIVAL - APRIL 25-28, 2024
ANNY: ANIMATION NIGHTS NEW YORK - MAY 21, 2024 | THE GUTTER | 8PM
Director’s Statement
I wrote the first draft of Sunflower Field in January 2022 with the aim to explore the impact war and conflict have on young children. At that time, I was back in Ukraine visiting my family where we were having conversations about a "hypothetical" war. It was hard for me grasp what life would look like if all the hypotheticals become facts, so I tried to put myself in the shoes of a young girl.
After February 24th, what I could only hope would stay as a story told has become a lesson learned for millions of children in Ukraine today. The journey that the young girl in the animation goes through represents the nightmare experienced by the children who had to face something as terrifying as war. At the same time, it explores the fear of losing home, fear of losing control over our own lives, and how important it is to battle that fear within ourselves in order to keep going. The girl not only represents children around the world, but also serves as a symbol of an individual's inner-child that is triggered when safety and comfort is removed.
Sunflowers are deeply tied to Ukranian culture. The title, Sunflower Field, comes from a real life story where a Ukrainian woman came up to the Russian soldier in her town and handed him sunflower seeds. She told him to “put these seeds into your pocket so that when you die on our land, something beautiful will grow out of it”. While the girl makes her way back home and wakes up from what seemed to be an unbelievable experience, her real world is forever changed. My hope is that this short story gives an insight to what resilience looks like in a time of terror and give agency to kids who’s childhoods are forever changed.
The short was made possible with:
