Todor Dinov
Directing
Biography
Todor Dinov (24 July 1919 – 17 June 2004) was a Bulgarian animator informally known as the Father of Bulgarian animation. During his lifetime, he wrote and directed more than 40 short animated films and several live-action feature films, and was also a popular illustrator, children's book illustrator, painter, graphic artist, comics artist and caricaturist. Dinov was born to a Bulgarian family in Dedeagach in Western Thrace (today Alexandroupoli, Greece) and finished school in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow under the tutelage of distinguished Soviet animators such as Ivan Ivanov-Vano. Dinov created his own first animated film, Yunak Marko (English: Marko the Hero), in 1955. Perhaps his best-known animated film in the West is the five-minute short Margaritka (English: The Daisy), produced in 1965. The film features a square-shaped little man trying to cut down a daisy and failing, then becoming more and more enraged as he tries increasingly brutal methods against the flower; in the end, the daisy only responds to the love of a child. Oddly, Margaritka won a prize for best children's film even though it was meant for adults. In 1967 he was a member of the jury of the 5th Moscow International Film Festival.[1] He founded the first animation studio in Bulgaria, setting the highest quality professional standards for producing animation in his country. Later, he created the Animation Department (now a separate major) and taught animation classes at the Theatre and Film Arts Institute. Dinov was also a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 1999, Dinov was awarded the highest-rank Bulgarian medal — the Stara Planina order (First Degree). In 2003 he received the Crystal Pyramide Award of the Bulgarian Filmmaker Union for lifetime achievement to the art of Bulgarian animation. He died in Sofia at the age of 84.
Known For
There is a dragon, which threatens the life of the shacked village. The attempts of lumberjacks, shepherds and hunters to get rid of the menace are without success. Their battle with the imaginary mythical monster makes them realize that their real enemies are the master Kolota and his servants. The dragon is beaten not physically but spiritually.
The Dragon
The police trucks and the piled up dead partisans in the village square shatter the peace of the village. The people manage to not only bear these extreme conditions, but also manage to take part in history. An army blocks off the village. Arrests and interrogation are common. The partisans are hiding in the forest. One of the soldiers manages to run off to them. The pot maker is among their aids and is killed while completing a mission.
Gunpowder
In a concert, one of the musicians suddenly rushed to the sky. There he waits at St. Peter's Gate to be received. Inside, pathetic music is played. A musician plays jazz. The angels begin to tremble in rhythm
Banished from Eden
When a dragon comes to an quiet rural village and steals 1 apple from a tree the village people get into quite a bustle.
Bustle
Bulgarian animation
In the Land of Cannibals
Bulgarian animation film
Prometheus XX
In late 19th century, a carver-cutter arrives in a little town to make the iconostasis of the newly built church. He is being accommodated in the house of a respected family. He is working slowly because of his love for the daughter of his hosts. They resist in every possible way and pay a high price: Their daughter dies. Though in despair, the master completes the iconostasis: a masterpiece the locals perceive as a heresy. And he leaves once again without any destination.
The Icon Stand
In winter, the zoo is sad. The children stare at the empty cages. The snowball explodes the monotony, evokes colors and music. Giraffes and chickens, turtles and hippos, even dragons with three heads appear. They are all colorful and dance against a black-and-white landscape.
The Snow Zoo
Bulgarian animation film
Chain Reaction
No description available.
Nadkhitrenata lisitsa
Attempts of a mosquito to conquer a lush fly.
Libido
A street artist draws pictures on the pavement in Paris, begging for money. After a rain all his paintings are erased so he starts all over.
The Rain of Paris
A madhouse. Everyone can do whatever they want. One crawls, and the other walks on the ceiling. The third one hangs from the lampshade. The fourth one pops out of the nightstand like a cuckoo clock . . . Orderlies catch one of the patients. Doctors consider it normal. He began to march in the impersonal formation of normal people.
Cuckoo
A lightning rod is guarding the house roof, but when the lightnings strike, it appears the rod if afraid of them.
The Lighting Rod
Two singers quarrel over a not-so-agitated scene that the film they are in gets stuck and later breaks. To fix it, they need to get in harmony again.
Duo
11 short satirical stories about the marvelous misadventures of the Three Fools. This is the tale from 1980 about the three raising a baby.
Three Fools as Pedagogues
Neither scissors nor saw will help the gardener to get rid of a daisy that has had the audacity to grow in the wrong place, but she herself cannot resist the gaze of a little girl.
The Daisy
An artist's hand tries to draw a drummer with various tools and techniques, but he cannot do it for some reason. Finally he pinches his index finger and draws the drummer with his red blood. The drummer starts hitting the drum and the artist tries to erase it with no success. At the end the artist's hand remains white and motionless while the blood-drawn drummer keeps drumming.
The Kettle-Drum
Bulgarian animation film
Perpetuum Mobile
Several short stories, showing what would happen if Prometheus tried to bring the gift of fire to the mankind in 20th century?