Sand Animation takes Ukraine by storm

Ukraine sand animation artist, twenty-four year old Kseniya Simonova, has won both the hearts and Ukraine's Got Talent 2009 competition and has spread her work as a viral video propelling Simonova to overnight world acclaim. In the short film piece above, Simonova takes us back to the war-torn Europe of 1944, when the concentration camps killed off many millions of its inhabitants. She recounts Germany conquering Ukraine in the second world war. She brings calm, then conflict. A couple on a bench become a woman's face; a peaceful walkway becomes a conflagration; a weeping widow morphs into an obelisk for an unknown soldier. Simonova looks like some vengeful Old Testament deity as she destroys then recreates her scenes - with deft strokes, sprinkles and sweeps she keeps the narrative going. She moves the judges to tears as she subtitles the final scene "you are always near".
You can also see some of Simonova's other work on You Tube here and here!