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ANIMATION 04 - BALLAD OF THE STARLINGS

DIRECTOR:

MILENA FIODOROW

RUNTIME:

00:03:22

COUNTRY:

IRELAND

GENRE:

ANIMATION

FILM SYNOPSIS

Ballad of the Starlings is a dark, fantastical, musical stop motion film. The story follows a young fox who goes against his mother's warnings and is then faced with a murmuration of dancing starlings who want to make him into their next meal.
The film is an ode to traditional puppetry techniques such as shadow puppetry, zoetropes and marionette shows through paper cut out and puppet animation.

DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY

"My name is Milena, I specialise in stop motion animation and puppet making. My films explore themes of finding love in unlikely places, perseverance through hardship and repeating history through fantastical stop motion stories.

I directed Ballad of the Starlings for my final project during my BA Honours in Animation degree in the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT)."

CAST & CREW

Milena Fiodorow: Director, Writer, Producer, Animator, Puppet Design and Making, Compositor (Smoke Break 2025)

Percy Yates: Producer

Patrick McGlynn (Dr.Mindflip): Key Cast ("The Starlings"), Music and Sound Composer

Aine Dilleen: Key Cast ("The Narrator")

Dylan Orr

Key Cast ("The Fox"), Compositor

Robin Bennett: Animator, Compositor

Patrick Gregg: Cinematographer and Colour Grader, Compositor

Set Design and Build Team: Tommy Bermingham, Sarah Cosgrave, Rachel Murtagh Mooney, Cuan Berrow, Harlan Cleary, Sofia De Silva, Edoardo Corradi

Karima Dillon El Toukhy: Sound Mixer

Leaf Tottenham: Puppet Design and Making

Laura Masterson: Compositor