{"id":52968,"date":"2025-10-29T08:52:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T08:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/?p=52968"},"modified":"2025-10-30T15:59:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:59:40","slug":"emerging-ukrainian-animator-mary-yanko-discusses-latest-project-kateryna-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/emerging-ukrainian-animator-mary-yanko-discusses-latest-project-kateryna-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Emerging Ukrainian Animator Mary Yanko Discusses Latest Project ‘Kateryna’: Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kateryna, Mary Yanko (Source: Mary Yanko \/ MIYU Productions)<\/p><\/div>\n

In just a few years, Ukrainian filmmaker Mary Yanko<\/a> has established herself as an original, emerging voice in animation. Splitting her time between Kyiv and Paris, with a background in fine art and animation, she has been remarkably prolific since graduating from Gobelins in 2022. While still a student, she co-directed one of the 2020 Annecy Festival opening sequences<\/a>. Her graduation short Vulvine Reine d\u2019Extase<\/em> (2022) went on to screen at over 60 festivals worldwide; even as it was blocked from YouTube, Instagram, and Vimeo for its erotic and violent content. The film eventually found a home on the UK-based platform Shadows Streaming via Amazon Prime, and you can watch it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More recently she directed La Princesse de Babylone<\/em> for France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions, which premiered at Annecy in 2024 and received a Special Mention at the Linoleum Animation Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her latest film in development, the animated documentary Kateryna<\/em>, explores how the Russo-Ukrainian War is depicted across social media, following the unique perspective of a webcam model who becomes a soldier. Co-produced by Miyu Productions (France) and Moon Man Prod (Ukraine), the project won the ARTE France Prize at this year\u2019s Annecy MIFA pitch, demonstrating its powerful message and well-received concept.<\/p>\n

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Mary Yanko presenting her film at Linoleum Festival (Photo by Roman Shalamov)<\/p><\/div>\n

We chatted with Mary about her career so far and to delve deeper into her new project.<\/p>\n

First of all, congratulations on ‘Kateryna’ winning the ARTE France Prize at Annecy\u2019s MIFA this year! What do you think resonated most with the jury, and what does this recognition mean for you and the project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having now spoken with Helene who curates the Arte program \u201cShort circuit” I can surely say that she actually appreciated Katryna\u2019s writing and the \u201cbest script\u201d mention that came with the MIFA prize is another testament to it. As an author I\u2019m reassured that the film will have a life outside film festivals, because once Kateryna is finished it will be available on the Arte\u2019s online platform and will be broadcast on TV.<\/p>\n

I consider Kateryna an international story, even though the film is about Ukrainians who grew up with the war, it is also a story about foreigners who watch them through screens and accidentally become spectators of this war while sitting in the comfort of their homes. The foreigners are only depicted in the form of comments that appear on the screen, but it is interesting that Europeans identify with this digital image when watching. Arte\u2019s commitment during this early stage of production proves that they believe French and German audiences will find this story interesting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Kateryna,

Kateryna, Mary Yanko (Source: Mary Yanko \/ MIYU Productions)<\/p><\/div>\n

Although the film is based on a real friend\u2019s story, you also drew from many conversations with women in the Ukrainian army, whose stories are rarely told. Did these conversations change your original idea, and in what ways (if any) did they help shape Kateryna\u2019s character?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Talking to soldiers with active online activity experiences was crucial for me to understand what I was dealing with. We are given so much power as filmmakers to present and amplify our points of view. When we\u2019re working with such sensitive topics I believe in staying humble and keeping this power in check by doing extensive research and consulting with those who have actually lived what we are writing. Many soldiers are deeply traumatised by their experience and it\u2019s my responsibility to fact check and be as empathic as I can when I work with such a subject. Some of them helped with important visual details and dialogue, mostly they confirmed the narrative was on the right track.<\/p>\n

A female soldier I interviewed admitted to me that she had a hidden past as a camgirl. I was surprised because there was no explicit content on her account. She told me that she sold sexual videos to strangers online to be able to feed her daughter when she couldn’t find work, and she’s afraid that one day someone will find out. She confirmed that it was important for her to be able to read or see stories like Kateryna’s. Animation makes this story anonymous and universal; many Ukrainian women can see themselves in it, and their experience can be shared with viewers in a story designed to be understood, felt, and shared.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Kateryna, Mary Yanko (Source: Mary Yanko \/ MIYU Productions)<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the themes running throughout the film is the use of social media; while you shared how you created your first Instagram account in the same year that Russia invaded Ukraine (2014). How do you think platforms like Instagram or TikTok have shaped the way your generation experiences war?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I need to shelter from ballistic missiles I put a picture online and people thousands of kilometers away can see it and become aware of what I\u2019m going through.<\/p>\n

We are people of a modern, very digitalised country with almost no military industrial complex facing one of the world’s greatest powers. We have to constantly remind the international community of our existence to have a chance to defend ourselves. This means playing by the rules the social media are imposing.<\/p>\n

In June 2023, my father sent me a video of him making jokes on the front lines. Three days later, he died in combat near Sloviansk. The first thing I did was delete a post promoting a fundraiser for his equipment because I found it too depressing for my followers. I also knew I would need them for other fundraisers and to share information about what’s happening in my country. Like other Ukrainians, I adapt my life to algorithms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Kateryna, Mary Yanko (Source: Mary Yanko \/ MIYU Productions)<\/p><\/div>\n

You trained in both fine arts in Kyiv and animation at Gobelins in Paris, giving you a mix of traditional and digital techniques. How has that background influenced the way you approached Kateryna, which will blend traditional 2D, rotoscoping, 3D techniques and documentary material?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I see endless possibilities in the transformative nature of animation as an art form and a filmmaking tool. If painting is captured in time, then in cinema we have complete control over time. The dynamics of editing, the transition from scene to scene can have an ironic, sarcastic or calming effect on the viewer, adding new contexts.<\/p>\n

I am lucky to have a good set of technical knowledge and good producers so I feel very free as a director to mix all the animation techniques I want, and most importantly be able to work with talented teams of artists and animators to make my vision come true.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n