After numerous appearances and successes at several international film festivals, Blind Vaisha, directed by director Theo Ushev, was nominated for short animation for the most prestigious Academy Award. Other honors for the film include the adult and children's jury prize from the largest animation competition in the world - Annecy (France), Silver Pegasus at the Animator Festival in Poland, and its announcement of "animation of the year" "At the oldest American forum in Chicago. In 2014, the director was once again on the cusp of an Oscar nomination for his film Gloria Victoria.
Theo Ushev emigrated to Canada in the distant 1999, and it was there that he became interested in animation. He is currently working for the National Film Board of Canada. He teaches and leads master classes at over 20 University and the festival around the world. He has won over 120 international honors over the last 10 years with his films: Tower Bower (2005), inspired and dedicated to early 20th century Russian avant-gardists, Drux Flux (2006), Man, who was waiting ”(2007), according to Kafka,“ The Lipset Diaries ”(2010). His December Nightingale (2012) won the award for "Best Canadian Animation of the Year" at the Canadian Film Institute.
Blind Vaisha is an 8 minute movie by the eponymous short story Georgi Gospodinov, for a girl who cannot live in the present because she sees the past with one eye and the future with the other.
"You know how often we turn to nostalgia for the past and fear the future. I always wanted to make a movie that is located in time. I tried to make a movie that seemed to put the story in a box. You know about Einstein's theory, to measure time as space. It's a fairy tale that has philosophy and quantum physics. "
~ shares the director.
As he read the Lord's story, Ushev already had an idea for the vision. Has been working on animation for over 8 months using the experimental Oculus Rift technology. Thanks to this innovation, the viewer, with the help of special stereoscopic glasses, also sees an additional simulated environment around him. This adds to the reality of the cinema experience.
A strong contribution to the overall atmosphere of Blind Vaisha is the music of Nikola Gruev - Kotarashki, which introduces traditional Bulgarian folklore into the film, translating them into a new, modern language. This is the third joint project of the two Bulgarians. In 2015, the musician wrote scores for "Sonambulo" on the poem by Garcia Lorca, who won many international honors. Ushev, on the other hand, makes the avant-garde video "Demoni" to the eponymous piece by Kotarashki.
About a month ago it became clear that Theodor Ushev would animate Georgi Gospodinov's novel "The Physics of Sadness", relying on Kotarashki for music. No one doubts that this will be another trio of masterpieces.
And while it comes to light, we all look forward to February 26, when the 89 Awards at the American Film Academy in Los Angeles will be presented.
