In 2005, Stepan Koval created a film with small plasticine figures: "Злидні - Zlydni - Trouble, misery, poverty". With this cartoon, he won a price at the Berlin International Film Festival!
The thread running through history is a tale of the Ukrainian Carpathians.
In Slavic mythology, misery is represented by evil spirits that bring misfortune at home. These spirits are small and they are wearing old clothes: As the Ukrainian proverb says "Wealth doesn't last very long, but poverty is eternal."
According to Ukrainian beliefs, "misery" enters home through the chimney. The only way to get rid of these creatures is to be clever and to like good things in life: you can enclose them in a bag or in a bottle that you will drown in water or place under a stone. The one that will release them, will be their next slave!
In this cartoon, the "zlydni" speak Russian but Petro, Maritchka and their neighbors are speaking Ukrainian language.
Interesting facts:
- To create "Zlydni", almost 200 kg of clay were used;
- This 13 minutes cartoon was realized in 9 months, using a digital camera;
- For "Zlydni" creators used a Spanish biological clay, not one made of petroleum products.
Author & source: Daniela / J'aime l'Ukraine ("I love Ukraine", a nice French blog devoted to Ukraine and its culure)
