Микита Гібаленко
Mykyta Gibalenko was born in 1993 in Melitopol, Ukraine, and raised in Kyiv. His interest for art and visual media began during his school years, when he started filming music jam sessions and street performances by his friends. Coming from a family with a technical background, Mykyta pursued mechanical engineering at the National Technical University of Ukraine in Kyiv, while continuing to explore film and performing self-written rap music in his spare time. In 2013, Mykyta moved to Munich, Germany, to continue his studies. He worked as an engineer in the renewable energy sector, while collaborating with the Munich independent theater scene on various video projects such as trailers, video installations for the stage as well as theatre play documentations.
In 2016 Mykyta finished his documentary SINNSPAGAT (47 min), focusing on the group dynamics, community and creative process of the underground theatre collective Theater Tut Weh. After independently writing, producing and directing several short films such as AVIDYA (2018) and ALL MY CHILDREN (2019), Mykyta changed his main focus from engineering to cinema and studied directing at the University of Television and Film in Munich. In his short works COCOON (2020) and JOBLESS KNIGHT (2021) he continued to explore topics of religion and patriarchy, following obsessive main characters, whose passion drives them into self-induced catastrophe.
Since the beginning of Russian full-scale invasion on Ukraine in 2022, Mykytas works have focused on the shifting identity of Ukrainians living abroad. As a multilingual writer-director, he depicts different perspectives on migration in the context of war by interweaving individual stories into collective political experience. Aesthetically he works with the element of contrast, combining narrative-driven drama with associative elements, clashing the sound against the image, the inner state against the surrounding. This thematic and stylistic directions are reflected in the ZDF Series NEBO TA ZEMLYA (2022, Nominated for Grimme Preis), the short film I SEE THEM BLOOM (2023, Starter Filmpreis, Nominated for German Short Film Award, Special Mention at Palm Springs ISFF) and Mykyta’s debut feature CAMOUFLAGE (2026), that will be screened at Giornate Degli Autori section of Venice Film Festival this Year.
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
CAMOUFLAGE | Fiction, 102 Min, 2026, kalekone film, ZDF DKF, HFF Munich |
I SEE THEM BLOOM | Fiction, 27 Min., 2023, HFF Munich |
NEBO TA ZEMLYA (EP2) | Series episode, 19 Min, 2022, Studio Zentral, ZDF Neo |
JOBLESS KNIGHT | Fiction, 12 Min, 2021, HFF Munich |
COCOON | Fiction, 13 Min, 2020, HFF Munich |
ALL MY CHILDREN | Fiction, 8 Min, 2019 |
AVIDYA | Fiction , 23 Min, 2018 (Co-Director, Camera, Editor) |
SINNSPAGAT | Documentary, 47 Min, 2016 (Co-Director, Camera, Editor) |
AWARDS / NOMINATIONS
Starter Filmpreis (2023)
Nomination Grimme Preis (2023)
Nomination German Short Film Award (2023)
Nomination Civis Young C. Medienpreis (2023)
Special Mention auf Palm Springs Int. Film Festival (2023)
Nomination Max Ophüls "Best Middle Length Film" (2023)
CONTACT
gibalenkomykyta@gmail.com