art filmmaker
Bio
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Marichka Lukianchuk was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, in 1997. Between 2014 and 2018, she studied Advertising and PR at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and ran her own advertising agency, focusing on video and graphic design and working with educational, cultural, and social projects.
In 2018, she moved to the Netherlands to study Interdisciplinary Arts at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. In 2021, she graduated with her short film Past Future Mountain, shot in the Carpathian Mountains, Ukraine, in collaboration with the local ethnic group, the Hutsuls.
Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, she relocated from Kyiv to Berlin. In 2022-2023 she completed an art residency at the Harun Farocki Institut (2022–2023), during which she realised her mid-length film about the war in Ukraine, Between Before and After, inspired by the war dreams of Ukrainians and by the novel 'Berestechko' by Lina Kostenko.​
Her short films have been shown at international film festivals and screenings. She directs, writes scripts, and edits her films; works as a freelance editor for various cultural and social projects, and teaches art film to youth. In addition to her filmmaking practice, Marichka writes short stories and poetry in English and Ukrainian.
Artist's Statement
My filmmaking practice is rooted in my artistic vision, which shapes my working process and approaches: treating each frame as a painting, editing as poetry, and combining interdisciplinary methods. I view filmmaking as a medium where various arts unite—incorporating performance and dance, theatricality, dance, and poetry.
I strive to create complex, cohesive worlds where each element—frame, word, sound, set design—belongs to that world; places where reality and dreams, inner and outer, conscious and subconscious, personal and collective become one. Through working with symbolism and archetypal stories, and delving into historical, cultural, and psychological contexts, I craft layered narratives that can be experienced on different levels.
I use mythopoetic language to connect with audiences and address social issues, individual and collective experiences. Ethnic cultures play a significant role in my work, not as passive heritage but as actively coexisting entities in the present. Ukrainian identity, history, and culture are essential aspects of my practice.
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I am currently developing several projects: NOVYNA, a short film co-directed with Anna Mrachkovska, tells the story of a 19th-century peasant who, during a time of famine and poverty, decides to kill his daughters; ‘97’, a short film reflecting on the uncontrollability of death and love; and Birds Sing Underwater, a feature film set during the Holodomor, currently in the scriptwriting phase.
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Festivals
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2025 - The Blue of High Zeniths (Armenia)
2023 - Monologfestival, theatre piece 'Kharkiv Calling' (dramaturg, video-editor) (Germany)
2022 - Carpathian international film festival CMIFF: best short film “Past Future Mountain” (Ukraine)
2022 - Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival (Malta)
2022 - GRRL HAUS CINEMA, Alte Münze (Germany)
2022 - Fusion Festival, Szimpla Kert, Budapest (Hungary)
2021 - HER INTERNATIONAL Film Festival (Ireland)
2021 - Prague International Indie Film Festival (Czech Republic)
2021 - ARFF Paris International Awards (France)
2021 - Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival (Greece)
2021 - L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival (India)
2020 - ARFF Amsterdam International Awards: best student film of the month and finalist of the year “Spiderweb for Shelter and Hunt” (The Netherlands)
2017 - Molodiya social advertising festival: finalist (Ukraine)
2017 - Another Sight social advertising festival: finalist (Ukraine)
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Screenings
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2024- Kinoclub Hamburg, How does cinema speak about art
2023 - MUMOK, Vienna, Solidarity Screening by Kyiv Biennale (Austria)
2023 - Silent Green, Harun Farocki Institut, screening and discussion (Germany)
2022 - ACUD Berlin, Human Voyage, Artists at Risk and Goethe Institut (Germany)
2022 - Kapitalks and Goethe Institute, Solidarity Screening by Kyiv Biennale (Slovakia)
2022 - Solidarity Screening by Kyiv Biennale, Riga (Latvia)
2022 - Floating University, Berlin, AR Talks moderated by Giorgi Rodionov (Germany)
2022 - Bauhaus Reuse, Berlin, Charity Screening (Germany)
2022 - Waag Amsterdam, Solidarity Screening by Kyiv Biennale (The Netherlands)
2022 - Biograf Hypnos, Malmö, Solidarity Screening by Kyiv Biennale (Sweden)
2022 - Haus Der Statistik, Berlin (Germany)
2022 - NaiBudeKino, Cinema House, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2021 - Oscar cinema, Gulliver, premiere of “Past Future Mountain” (Ukraine)
2020 - Lumiere cinema, Maastricht, premiere of “Spiderweb for Shelter and Hunt” (The Netherlands)
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Exhibitions
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2023 - Post Ost Exhibition, 101 Project Space, Berlin, video-installation "Past Future Mountain" (Germany)
2022 - art market in support of Ukraine at Bonnefanten Museum (The Netherlands)
2020 - Mapping the City, Genk, “7 paintings about humans and fire” (Belgium)
2020 - Van Eyck Academy, Maastricht, installation/performance “Heavy Water” (The Netherlands)
2019 - Museum Dr. Guislain, Gent, Senses Present, installation “Black Maria” (Belgium)
2018 - B32, Maastricht, EYESCAPE Exhibition, video art The Un(read)able Book (The Netherlands)
2018 - National Art Museum of Ukraine, Face art-face future: collaborative performance, devoted to an exhibition of Käthe Kollwitz and Ernst Barlach (Ukraine)
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Education
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2018-2021 - Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Maastricht. Bachelor in interdisciplinary arts (The Netherlands)
2014-2018 - Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine. Bachelor in advertising and public relations (Ukraine)
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Short courses
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2019 - European Cultural Academy, Venice Biennale Revealed (Italy)
2017 - Kulturnyy Proekt, creative writing (Ukraine)
2017 - Instituto Europeo di Design, Florence, Advanced Graphic Design (Italy)
2016 - Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milan, digital illustration (Italy)​
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Art residencies
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2022-2023 - Harun Farocki Institut, Berlin
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Interviews and articles
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2024 - speaker at the political panel Kultur und Kreativität im Krieg. moderated by Jan-Philip Hein, cafe Kyiv
2024 - Interview for the film in celebration of the 200th birthday of the Maastricht Institute of Arts
2023 - The state of artistic freedom, statement for Free Muse, international non-governmental organization (p.99)
2022 - Filmmaking and collective consciousness against war, statement for Harun Farocki Institut
2022 - Filmmaking in times of war, speech for Around Films Festival ARFF
2022 - 10 questions with Marichka Lukianchuk, Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine
2021 - Past Future Mountain: The Hutsul Mythology, best graduation works from art academies, Metropolis Magazine
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Selected filmography
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In pre-production - “NOVYNA“, short film - co-writer, co-director, editor
In scriptwriting phase - “Birds Sing Underwater“, feature film - writer, director, editor
2025 - “97“, short film - writer, director, editor
2024 - “Between Before and After”, middle-length film - director, editor
2022 - “first snow of the second winter”, short film - director, editor, DOP
2022 - “Between Before and After War”, short film - director, editor, DOP
2021 -“ Past Future Mountain”, short film - director, editor, DOP
2020 - “Spiderweb for Shelter and Hunt”, short film - director, editor, DOP
2019 - “Inevit(ability) or I'm not tall enough”, short film - director, editor, DOP
Educational practice, teaching
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2023 - stop-motion workshop with NeNa e.V. (Germany)
2023 - Theodor-Storm-Schule, leading Kreativ-AG (art lessons) (Germany)
2022 - Film Arche School, Berlin, stop motion workshop (Germany)
2022 - Theater der Jungen Welt, Leipzig, filmmaking workshop (Germany)
2022 - Detibezseti (Diyaty) studio for children, art film course (Ukraine)
2020 - co-creator of “POISK”— happenings, aimed to unite artists from different disciplines for collaborative artistic search (Ukraine)
2018 - Teenagers Club, art and creativity workshop (Ukraine)
2018 - Children’s orphanages, art and creativity workshops (Ukraine)
2018 - co-creator of “Have an Idea”, project aiming to create collaboration between business and students (Ukraine)
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Freelance
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2020-... - freelance director, editor, DOP, graphic designer, photographer. Among my collaborations: Costa Compagnie, Goethe Institute, Berlin Story Bunker, Untitled Tbilisi, NeNa e.V., ORAM Refugee (Germany)
2016-2018 - co-founder of advertising agency “Dikie Zhivotnye” (Ukraine)​
Internships
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2021 - StarLightMedia, STB TV channel, director's assistant (Ukraine)
2018 - Mystetskyi Arsenal, art mediator (Ukraine)
2016 - THINK McCANN Kyiv, advertising agency, creative writer (Ukraine)
2016 - UTC Film Production, researcher (Ukraine)
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Languages
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Ukrainian - native
English - fluent
German - B2
Spanish - B1
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