Director and animator Theodore Ushev presented Aquanima, the second edition of his Best of the Year selection of short films at the Burgas International Film Festival on July 20. After its opening, he left for Italy where he will receive the 2024 Guttuso Award at the ANIMAPHIX Festival on July 22 and will stage an exhibition.
“Next year we may need a larger hall,” Ushev joked, prompted by the audience’s great interest in the screening. Later on he wrote on Facebook that “this magical Burgas audience can be the envy of the biggest festivals in the world”.
“In just two years, studios have become proud to be part of the Burgas International Film Festival programme, which is a success for us and the festival team. Many of the films were pulled out of other festivals to be shown here. This shows how prestigious these screenings have become,” the director said.
Ushev said the eight films in his selection were the best of the season. For instance, Pachyderme is already an Oscar nominee.
He also said the Aquanima selection would be part of the Burgas International Film Festival next year, when the event marks its 10th anniversary.
According to the director, poetry is what almost all the films in Aquanima have in common. Their other common feature is that they were made very aesthetically because their authors are some of the world’s greatest animation artists. The following eight short films were made in the last couple of years and have won awards at various prestigious festivals:
Circle by Yumi Joung (Republic of Korea)
Miserable Miracle by Ryo Orikasa (Japan)
La Voix des Sirènes by Gianluigi Toccafondo (Italy)
Pachyderme by Stephanie Clement (France)
The Dog Apartment by Priit Tender (Estonia)
The Family Portrait by Lea Vidakovic (Croatia)
In quanto a noi by Simone Massi (Italy)
Percebes by Alexandra Ramires (Portugal).
