Moscow based filmmaker Kristina Alexeenko's debut animation Over It tackles the after-math of emotional abuse by examining and giving lee-way to the amount of time it may take to heal. Its message is that of a positive one: it's okay to take your time and let yourself heal.

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Alexeenko << In my studies I majorly look at people, their relationships, the importance of conversations and communication in general. I want my artworks to tell a story that could become relatable for somebody who needs support, and emphasize the importance of self care and listening to yourself. In terms of narration I wanted to focus on how it might not be easy to overcome your past experiences of abusive relationship, and that recovering may require years and it's okay to take your time to heal.

In this particular project I wanted to focus on how we as humans can affect the lives of people around us, how every word or action can influence the other person's story to its core. I aimed to investigate the presence of an individual from a different perspective.
My choice to show communication through texts was to underline the painful nature of letting go - unlike just remembering real conversations, reading through old dialogs sometimes can act as an emotional teleport. Knowing that you have everything "on paper" feeds the constant desire to return to the place the you once were in, even if it's not good for you.
In terms of medium I was looking for a way to successfully incorporate traditional material together with digital elements and keep the overall appearance of the film as simple as possible to prevent the narrative from interfering with the visuals in the wrong way. I was also trying to keep it both straightforward and metaphorical at the same time - that's why I went for the main character being sort of "transparent" to highlight the fragility of a human being together with emphasizing the significance of our surroundings.

Color choices were also influenced by my aim to stress the controversy between calm surroundings and emotional state the character has to go through.

Sound design was a whole new world for me as well as animating itself - but from the start I had a pretty strong image of what it will be like, because I wanted to take any opportunity to accentuate the emotional side of the story. That's why the character "speaks" in sounds - their emotional state is so overwhelming, it fills up the whole room. >>

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