Scherven van Vreugde

Oleksandra Davydenko received a grant for the development of her debut animated short film titled Scherven van Vreugde. The film tells a story about displacement trauma and incorporates paint-on-glass animation. The film follows Lesya, a glass-making artist in her mid-twenties trying to figure out what to do with a glass shard she managed to preserve while fleeing her war-torn village. It is a bittersweet story of loss, hope, and new beginnings. With this film, Oleksandra establishes herself as a filmmaker within the Dutch animation industry.

Oleksandra is a Ukrainian animation director and a visual artist based in the Netherlands. Her graduation film, Fathoming Dinner (2025), premiered at the Imagine International Fantasy Film Festival in Amsterdam in 2026, securing a Méliès d'Argent nomination. Since then, it has been shown at festivals across the Netherlands, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and the USA, and won the Best Animated Film award at the Atlanta After Dark Festival 2026.