Boris Despodov

Biography

Born on 2 March 1973 in Sofia, Bulgaria Graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia. Started his career as a painter and poster maker. His paintings and posters have been exhibited in four continents and are included in private collections (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Council of Europe, Strasbourg). Since 1998 co-founder and member of the Bulgarian Photographic Association. Author and publisher of Kamikaze gazette, a cultural magazine. Multi-award winning animator: MYTHOLOGY, TICK-TACK (Winner Bulgarian Film Awards-Best Animation 2005; Winner Bulgarian Union of Filmmakers Annual Awards-Best Animation 2005; Winner Audience Prize Shorts Welcome, Dresden 2005) His last animation is THREE SISTERS AND ANDREY, a hyper real painted animation. Winner Promotional Prize for Joint Co-productions of young German-Eastern European Filmmakers’06 given by Robert Bosch Foundation. During the development of his first feature-length documentary CORRIDOR #8 in 2005 he met the Danish filmmaker Jorgen Leth and made a short documentary about him, SCHINDLER’S LIFT. His film debut CORRIDOR #8 received many awards including Ecumenical Jury Award, BERLINALE 2008, HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award, HOTDOCS 2008 – Toronto and Heart of Sarajevo – Best Documentary Sarajevo FF 2008. The film has been chosen for Pick of the Fests’ five best documentaries from 2008 screened in Doc House London, March 2009. Filmography 2009 THREE SISTERS AND ANDREY, short animation (14 min.), Bulgaria - Germany Supported By the Bulgarian National Film Center, MFG-Badden Würtemberg Film Fund, Robert Bosch Foundation Winner Promotional Prize for Joint Co-productions of young German Eastern European Filmmakers 2006 Winner Jameson Award for the Best Bulgarian Short Film, Sofia IFF 2009 Winner Golden Rhiton for Best Animation, Golden Rhiton, Plovdiv 2009 Winner Balkananima Award for the Best Film, Anim’Est, Bucharest, Romania 2009 2008 CORRIDOR #8, documentary (74 min.) www.corridor8.info Winner Ecumenical Jury Award, BERLINALE 2008, World Premiere Winner HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award, HOTDOCS 2008 - Toronto Winner Heart of Sarajevo – Best Documentary, Sarajevo FF 2008 Winner Bulgarian Film Awards – Best Film 2008, Best Cinematography for Documentary Film 2008 Winner Golden Knight for the Best Documentary film, IFF Golden Knight , Russia 2009 Winner Grand Jury Prize, Golden Rhiton, Plovdiv 2009 Winner Grand Prize of URTI for the authors documentary films Monte Carlo festival of the televisions 2009 Winner Grand Jury Prize IDF of TRT (Turkish Television) 2010, Istanbul, Turkey Presented in official selections at more than 50 festivals Supported by the National Film Center – Bulgaria, the MEDIA Programme of the European Community, the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC), in association with YLE Co-productions, with the participation of Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR). 2004 TICK-TACK, short animation (6,30 min.) Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center Winner Bulgarian Film Awards - Best Animation 2005 Winner Bulgarian Union of Filmmakers Annual Awards - Best Animation 2005 Winner Audience Prize Shorts Welcome, ISFF Dresden 2005 Winner Special Jury Mention, Golden Rython 2005 Best of Ottawa Film Collection 2005 Presented in official competitions at more than 20 festivals / first screening at WFF Montreal 2004 2002 MYTHOLOGY, short animation (3 min.) Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center Winner Special Jury Mention, IFF Golden Knight Russia, 2003 Presented in official competitions at more than 50 festivals / first screening at WFF Montreal 2002