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Sirin & Alkonost

This film is based on the Slavic myth of the Sirin and Alkonost birds. These two divine beings embody opposing yet interconnected forces: one descends from heaven, the other rises from hell. Once a year, they meet upon a tree between worlds. One brings joy and harmony, the other sorrow and decay; together, they reflect a single essence. In this project, the two mythic entities are merged into a single hybrid bird, representing the coexistence of both forces within a single being. This concept is portrayed through a unified costume and performance, with the character shifting fluidly between Sirin and Alkonost states. The dual bird symbolises cycles of death and regeneration. The costume acts as a vessel for transformation and a landscape of meaning, tracing the bird’s journey through contamination and healing. The main character is first encountered in the Sirin state, immobilised beneath a hardened, oil-spill cocoon that evokes ecological trauma and paralysis. Through gradual effort, the toxic layer is shed, revealing a luminous body reminiscent of the kingfisher Alkonost state. In the final stage, the discarded residue is not rejected but absorbed and transformed, situating the myth within the Anthropocene, where nature, damage, and responsibility are inseparable.

  • Eva Buryakovsky
    Director
  • Yanki Yau
    Key Cast
    "Sirin & Alkonost Bird"
  • Eva Buryakovsky
    Costume Design
  • Eva Buryakovsky
    Set Design
  • Robert Kalvans
    Lighting
  • Julia Vasilchenko
    Lighting
  • Robert Kalvans
    Cinematography
  • Julia Vasilchenko
    Cinematography
  • Alyona Bakeyeva
    Makeup Artist
  • Raksha Joshi
    Hair Stylist
  • Elena Bovay
    Choreography
  • Natalia Pavlova
    Sound Artist
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 20, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    1,309 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Camera
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of the Arts London
  • London
    United Kingdom
    December 29, 2025
    London College of Fashion Graduate Show
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • University of the Arts London
    Distributor
    Country: United Kingdom
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Eva Buryakovsky

Eva Buryakovsky is a textile and costume designer and filmmaker who weaves Slavic mythology and heritage craft into compelling visual narratives. Originally from Russia, she merges cultural memory and symbolism in both traditional and digital textile-making, infusing these elements into her costumes. Eva’s work stands out for its tactile storytelling and immersive worlds, uniting material, history, and emotion. Her approach blends deep historical research with bespoke craftsmanship, creating evocative pieces rooted in cultural identity and myth.

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Director Statement

In this film, I explored how costume acts as both a cinematic environment and a living body. Costumes help carry the narrative through their material, movement, and transformation. Instead of depicting mythology literally, I treat the Sirin–Alkonost archetype as an internal landscape, a being reshaped by rupture, resilience, and the slow work of renewal.

The film follows a solitary figure emerging from a state of extreme material burden. Her body is constrained, weighed down, and chemically altered, evoking images of wildlife affected by environmental disaster. I directed the performance to begin in near immobility, allowing the costume to dictate rhythm and vulnerability, so that every small gesture becomes an act of survival. As layers are gradually removed, the choreography shifts toward expansion, breath, and lightness, revealing a second corporeal language grounded in fluidity and sensorial freedom.

The film's final movement resists resolution. The discarded material returns, not as an enemy, but as an entity to be re-encountered and re-integrated. For me, this gesture reframes transformation not as escape from damage, but as a negotiation with it. The film ultimately asks how bodies, landscapes, and histories continue to move forward while carrying what has marked them.