Alina Milkina is a Ukrainian Netherlands-based filmmaker. While growing up in Alchevsk, Ukraine, Alina used to watch a lot of USSR animation, which influenced her future signature as a visual storyteller. She graduated from Minerva Academy in Groningen, Netherlands, with a specialization in illustration and obtained a master’s degree in animation from AKV St. Joost in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Her graduation film Morning Grass premiered at Annecy in 2021. After working for several years in the Dutch film industry as a 2D animator, Alina focused her practice on independent filmmaking. Her animated film COO-RAGE premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2024. In her storytelling, she portrays themes of longing for home, the courage to follow one’s inspirations, and the poetry of simple things in our surroundings.
Experience
HBO Lecturer at Minerva Art Academy
Septerber 2026 – Present Groningen, Netherlands
"Jamsession" is a course about improvisation in dance, animation, and music
Film Director at Spotted Bird Production
June 2021 – Present Groningen, Netherlands
"There Was no Sex in USSR" short animated film
Film Director at Baran Sedighian Production
January 2025 – February 2026 Groningen, Netherlands
"Mind Your Step" short animated film
HBO Lecturer at Minerva Art Academy
September 2023 – March 2024 Groningen, Netherlands
"Animation Storytelling" course
Film Director at Spotted Bird Production
Septerber 2023 – June 2024 Groningen, Netherlands
"COO-RAGE" ultrakort animated film
2D animator at Juniper Animation Studio
June 2022 – October 2022 Warsaw, Poland
"Lullaby"
Ivan Gopienko
2D animator at Submarine
September 2020 – January 2022 Amsterdam, the Netherlands
“They Shot the Piano Player”
Fernando Trueba
”The Sandman, A Dream of a Thousand Cats”
Hisko Hulsing, Netflix
”Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood”
Richard Linklater, Netflix
2D animation intern at Submarine
September 2020 – December 2020 Amsterdam, the Netherlands
”Best Birthday Ever”
Michael Ekblad
Freelance Animator at Freelance
January 2018 – Present Groningen, Netherlands
2D animation, illustration
Art Atelier intern at l minuscule
March 2018 – April 2018 Le Havre, France
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=BP-m5-IA4Pk&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=lminuscule
Animation intern at Christa Moesker
March 2018 – June 2018 Groningen, Netherlands
Russian language teacher at Freelance
2017 – 2018 Groningen, Netherlands
Education
Master of Animation at AKV st.Joost
2019 – 2020 's-Hertogenbosch
Bachelor of Arts (animation illustration design) at Minerva Art Academy
2015 – 2019 Groningen, Netherlands