Director's statement: "Only Love" was my first foray into a production involving a sizable team of talented people. Working with a group of animators allowed me to concentrate on what I do best - directing, storyboarding, doing character/color designs and layouts. And of course, keeping track of everything going on with the film on a 15 page spreadsheet. The end result, I hope, is not only a film that viewers will find funny, entertaining, and pleasing to the eyes and ears, but also a film with a serious thought beyond the jokes and fast action.

Screen Shots | Synopsis | Awards | Festivals | Credits | Press

Trailers

Screen Shots

DictatorFightBattle cry

RebelNightmareDictator dance

Synopsis

'Only Love' is a tragicomedy about a Dictator, a Rebel, and Love. It is a darkly humorous tale of a dictator facing the ghosts of his past misdeeds, a man's eternal search for love, and the terrible price one sometimes has to pay for it. Brimming with nonstop creative energy, this traditionally animated short is a feast for the eyes and ears with beautifully painted backgrounds, outstanding orchestral score, and a story that will make you laugh and cry.

Awards

• 2009 Ivy Film Festival (Best Animation)
• 2009 New Strand Film Festival (Student Visionary Award)
• 2009 Kent Film Festival (Best Animation)
• 2009 Purple Violet Student Film Festival (Best Animation)
• 2008 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (Best Student Animation)
• 2009 Long Island International Film Expo (Best Original Score)
• 2009 Great Lakes Independent Film Festival (Best Animation)

Festivals

• 2008 Woodstock Film Festival, USA (World Premier)
• 2008 Philadelphia Film-A-Thon, Project Twenty1 Film Festival, USA
• 2008 Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema (Canada)
• 2009 St. Louis International Film Festival
• 2009 Palm Beach International Film Festival
• 2009 Klik! Amsterdam Animation Festival (Netherlands)
• 2009 Young Cinema Student Film Festival (Poland)
• 2009 Spokane International Film Festival
• 2009 Riverside International Film Festival
• 2009 Flickerings Film Showcase
• 2009 Treasure Coast International Film Festival
• 2009 MOTION Film Festival
• 2009 Delray Beach Film Festival
• 2009 Artsfest Film Festival
• 2009 Woods Hole Film Festival
• 2009 SSG Summer Shorts Fest
• 2009 Reno Film Festival
• 2009 The 9th Tel Aviv Animation Festival (Israel)
• 2009 CrankCookieShortfilmdays (Germany)
• 2009 Southern Winds Film Festival
• 2009 GIAA Festival of Short Films and Videos
• 2009 California International Animation Festival
• 2010 The Northern Wave International Film Festival (Iceland)
• 2010 Banana Peel Festival (Russia)

Film Info

• Premier: October 2, 2008, Woodstock Film Festival
• Running time: 15 min
• Production format: NTSC 720p

Main Credits

• Screenwriter and Director: Lev Polyakov
• Producers: Lev Polyakov, Yuri Shkuro
• Cast: David Commander, Scott Johnston
• Composer/Music: Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin
• Sound Editor: Rob Daly
• Background Art: Alexander Polyakov, Lev Polyakov
• Editing and Digital Effects: Lev Polyakov

Press

• 2008 Woodstock Film Festival
  "... the marvelous animated short [Only Love] ... uses a delightful 2-D visual approach to tell the darkly humorous, virtually wordless account of a dictator combating the ghosts of his past misdeeds. Wielding a style reminiscent of Bill Plympton -- but packed with far richer metaphor -- Polyakov ... announces his arrival as a fresh talent in the animation scene." -- Eric Kohn, IndieWIRE.
• 2009 Palm Beach International Film Festival
  "Another standout at the fest was "Only Love", an animated short that breathes new life into 2D animation and is directed with gusto by Lev Polyakov. The film tells the story of a foreign dictator coming to grips with his own mortality and facing the demons of his past. Merging Russian archetypes and surrealist imagery, this jewel highlights a maturity that makes it exceptional." -- The Inside Reel.
• 2009 Long Island Film Expo
  "Remember this name: Lev Polyakov. The young Russian-American animator, who just graduated from the School of Visual Arts, will rattle your defenses and make you question what you thought you knew - all from a bunch of drawings jumping around" -- Ellis Henican, Newsday.

• 2009 Ivy Film Festival
  Once upon a time, in a comically derelict stereotype of a Soviet city, there ruled a brainy dictator whose logo was a peace sign, but who tortured dissidents in the dungeon of his concrete castle. Such Grimm humor pervades the dialogueless "Only Love", a slapstick tale of a one-man insurrection lead by a portly middle-aged revolutionary in an unflattering tank top. [...] Somewhere between Kill Bill and The Animaniacs, "Only Love" finishes with an ambivalent resolution to a 20th-century fairy tale, in which authoritarianism slides into celebrity, and even political prisoners live happily ever after." -- Dayna Tortorici, Adrian Randall, and Nick Greene, The College Hill Independent.