Aleksandr Petrov
Directing
Biography
Aleksandr Konstantinovich Petrov (Александр Константинович Петров) (born 17 July 1957 in Prechistoye, Yaroslavl Oblast) is a Russian animator and animation director. Petrov was born in the village of Prechistoye (Yaroslavl Oblast) and lives in Yaroslavl. He studied art at VGIK (state institute of cinema and TV) and was a disciple of Yuriy Norshteyn at Moscow's Advanced School for Screenwriters and Directors. After making his first films in Russia he moved to Canada where he adapted the novel The Old Man and the Sea, resulting in a 20-minute animated short — the first large-format animated film ever made. Technically impressive, the film is made entirely in pastel oil paintings on glass, a technique mastered by only a handful of animators in the world. By using his fingertips instead of a paintbrush on different glass sheets positioned on multiple levels, each covered with slow-drying oil paints, he was able to add depth to his paintings. After photographing each frame painted on the glass sheets, which was four times larger than the usual A4-sized canvas, he had to slightly modify the painting for the next frame and so on. It took him over two years -- from March 1997 through April 1999 -- to paint each of the 29,000+ frames. For the shooting of the frames a special adapted motion-control camera system was built, probably the most precise computerized animation stand ever made. On this an IMAX camera was mounted, and a video-assist camera was then attached to the IMAX camera. The film was highly acclaimed, receiving the Academy Award for Animated Short Film and Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. After this, Aleksandr Petrov has maintained a close relationship with Pascal Blais Studio in Canada, which helped fund The Old Man and the Sea, where he works on commercials. He returned to Yaroslavl in Russia to work on his latest film, My Love, which was finished in spring 2006 after three years' work and had its premiere at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival on 27 August, where it won the Audience Prize and the Special International Jury Prize. On 17 March 2007, My Love was theatrically released at the Cinema Angelika in Shibuya, (Japan) by Studio Ghibli, as the first release of the "Ghibli Museum Library" (theatrical and DVD releases of Western animated films in Japan). In a 2009 interview, Petrov stated that he was jobless and using-up the last of his previously earned money. A 2010 article stated that Petrov wants to create an animated feature film with his technique, but cannot start because of lack of funds. Four years later he directed a three-minute animated sequence for the Sochi Paralympic Games called Firebird (Жар-птица). In an interview later that year, Petrov confirmed that if he can find the funding, he would like to work on a feature film in the future using his signature style, and stated that he is currently working on a film project but that it is progressing with great difficulty. In July 2016 Petrov sat on the board of directors for the International Film Festival of Poetic Animation held in Pergola, Italy.
Known For
An old fisherman makes the biggest catch of his life.
The Old Man and the Sea
A new doctor from Moscow arrives at a provincial mental institution. His interest is the peculiarities of the psyche of a patient who believes that he is Yakov Yurovsky, the man who assassinated the last Russian tsar. In the course of their conversations it transpires that the patient is a kind of philosopher, not without a gift for suggestion. In a while the doctor himself falls under his patient’s influence: he tends to relive that fatal night of June 16-17, 1918 when, without any investigation or trial, Tsar Nicholas II, who had recently abdicated, was murdered, together with his wife, daughters and incurably ill heir. Soon the doctor realizes that the tragedy of the last Russian tsar is in part his own tragedy, too...
Assassin of the Tsar
Biopic covering a large portion of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's life, from the Petrashevsky Circle to the writing of The Brothers Karamazov.
Dostoevsky
In nineteenth-century Russia, a teenage boy in search of love is drawn to two very different women.
My Love
A boy recalls the story of how his family lost its cow. Based on a short story by Andrei Platonov.
The Cow
This program was more serious and aimed at a more mature audience. It discussed economic and social issues in an allegorical and humorous manner, examining various historical periods and forms of government.
The Academy of One's Own Mistakes, or the Pilot Brothers Save Russia
An animated film based on one of the renku (collaborative linked poems) in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō. The creation of the film followed the traditional collaborative nature of the source material – the visuals for each of the 36 stanzas were independently created by 35 different animators. As well as many Japanese animators, Kawamoto assembled leading names in animation from across the world. Each animator was asked to contribute at least 30 seconds to illustrate their stanza, and most of the sequences are under a minute (Yuriy Norshteyn's, though, is nearly two minutes long).
Winter Days
The history of Russian animated films.
Miracle Factory. Animation Director
A friendly moose lets an insect hitch a ride on his antlers. But the moose is soon taken advantage of, as more and more forest creatures (including a bear!) take up residence in his antlers. How can the moose get rid of these unwanted guests? Based on a Dr. Seuss story.
Welcome
"From the Private Life of the Pilot Brothers" is a Russian animated series based on the Soviet cartoon "Koloboki Are Investigating," and in some ways even serving as its sequel. A total of six short films were produced at Pilot Studios from 1995 to 1996, directed by Aleksandr Tatarskiy.
From the personal life of the Pilot brothers
An animated short film based on the 1877 short story written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing to live for in the world, and is therefore determined to commit suicide. A chance encounter with a young girl changes his mind.
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
An elderly monk, while training the young novice who will succeed him, recalls the mysterious lost love of his past - just as his young successor appears to be encountering her himself.
Mermaid
A guardian angel's efforts to help people only cause greater and greater disasters.
The Guardian Angel
The tale about a magic fish that too literally understands the wishes of lazy fool.
At the Pike's Behest
The director Misha Tumelya and animators Sasha Dorogov and Alexandr Petrov presented this short to Roy E. Disney as a tribute for the 60th anniversary of Mickey. A little over two minutes in length, the cartoon shows a young boy in black silhouette going to a line that divides the screen image in half. It is like a mirror with the young boy on one side and the classic black and white Mickey Mouse in black silhouette on the other side.
The Marathon
A man from the city arrives at the village to the house his grandmother Nyura. He didn't like his grandmother's inheritance, so Nyura's friend decides to teach her grandson a lesson and invites the house spirits Akulka and Dunyka. At night, they sing and dance, turning the house upside down, so that the heir remembers his childhood and comes to his senses.
Let Bygones Be Bygones
No description available.
The Night
No description available.
The Rose
A little girl is told a fairy tale about a little bug who doesn't know what she should do with her life as she explores the big, wondrous world. Based on the story by Dmitriy Mamin-Sibiryak.
A Fairy Tale About A Little Thing
No description available.